Counsel for the Defense
by Aeryn Alexander
Summary: Hermione Granger is a lawyer for the Ministry of Magic. An unexpected request from a certain former potions professor sends her on a journey of discovery, love, and pain. Will she be able to save him? HG/ SS Chapter 14 and Author's Notes are up! Complete
1. In which Hermione gets a job

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter and all who reside therein belong to the woman whose name is on the side of the books: J.K. Rowling. And certainly not to me.  
Title: Counsel for the Defense  
Author: Aeryn Alexander  
Summary: Hermione Granger has entered the legal profession. She never imagined that she would be defending a former Death Eater, this one in particular. So what happens? Read the story! Please? HG/SS  
Rating: PG-13 (for mild to moderate language, moderate violence, and some sexuality) individual chapters may carry different ratings when necessary.  
Genre: Drama/ Angst/ Romance/ Action/ General  
Author's Note: I wrote a lot of this over the last holiday weekend, so there may be errors of which I am not aware. And I would hesitate a guess that this has probably been done before. There are few original story lines left. But I hope that this may still be entertaining in some way. The chapters will be pretty long, I think. Also, I am not a legal expert (American, UK, Muggle, or Wizard). Knowing almost nothing about the legal profession and writing a story involving those elements was probably a bad idea, but I hope I have managed to pull it off. Please read, review, and feel free to speak your mind.   
  
  
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Counsel for the Defense  
  
Chapter One  
  
In which Hermione gets a job  
  
  
Hermione Granger swept her hair back as she began reading the scroll on her desk that morning. Working for the legal office of the Ministry of Magic, she never knew quite what to expect. Four years out of Hogwarts, and after the defeat of Voldemort, she was still new to the office, but assisting in the prosecution of the last surviving Death Eaters and other followers of Voldemort had given her a vast amount of experience in a short amount of time.   
  
People still asked her why she went into the legal profession. Ron had become an Auror after extensive training. Harry was a hero and a star Quidditch player. Neville and Ginny were both teaching, finding their niches in Magical History and Charms, respectively. Where did that leave Hermione? She had decided not long before the final battle with Voldemort that she didn't have what it took to be an Auror. Then she decided that she wanted to put off teaching at least for a while. And so she entered the legal program that the Ministry sponsored and completed the requirements in record time.   
  
It had been a recommendation from Professor Remus Lupin, who had returned to Hogwarts for her sixth and seventh years. He had once had such aspirations himself, but as a werewolf ... they were hardly likely to come to fruition.  
  
That particular morning Hermione had to read the scroll twice. She had been assigned a new case, but she couldn't believe whose. It was unthinkable! It was unimaginable! An official inquiry had been ordered into the involvement of Severus Snape in the events of the previous twenty years or more.  
  
"After everything he did for us ... this?" she questioned quietly.  
  
A rather loud knock at the door her small office startled Hermione from her reading and disbelief. She rolled up the scroll before bidding her visitor to enter.  
  
The door creaked open slowly to reveal one of her former professors, minus his school robes. Professor Snape was dressed in casual wizarding attire, dark brown flowing clothes, not altogether un-robe-like. He hesitated in the doorway, looking a bit disgruntled and uncomfortable, until Hermione rose from her chair and gestured for him to come in. She desperately wished that she had had more time to prepare, not to mention recover.  
  
"Professor ... I just learned ... I am terribly sorry. I can't imagine ... well, I can't imagine a lot things ... like why they assigned your defense to me. For Merlin's sake! I'm not even a _defense_ attorney." she babbled as he entered the office and closed the door.  
  
Snape slowly seated himself in the plush chair in front of her desk, indicating with his unfathomable dark eyes that she should return to her seat too.  
  
"Because I requested you." he replied.  
  
"But why, professor?"  
  
"Don't call me that. I have resigned, you know. The scandal would hardly do the school any good right now." he answered, seeming a good deal more relaxed than when he had been her instructor. The four years of peace had agreed with him.  
  
"Very well." she agreed. She stifled a sigh. If only Professor Dumbledore were still there, if only he hadn't disappeared practically into thin air after the defeat of Voldemort. "Where to begin ..." she mumbled aloud.  
  
"You're supposed to ask me some questions, Miss Granger." he prompted.  
  
"Ah, yes." she said, glancing at the scroll on her desk. "How have you been?" Hermione questioned absently, trying to recall what it said. "This is all so impossibly ridiculous." she thought to herself.  
  
Snape was caught off-guard. She could see it in his eyes as they narrowed.  
  
"I am one week away from an inquiry that could lead to a trial that could lead to a very long stretch in Azkaban ... and you want to know how I've been?" he asked irately. She simply looked at him. "Better, I've been better." he replied at long last.  
  
"I can imagine." she nodded. After a pause she questioned, "I still want to know why of all the experienced counsels you could have chosen, why you wanted me. There are, after all, many former Slytherins in the legal profession."  
  
"And most of them would like nothing more than to see me thrown to the dementors for one reason, or another." he sneered.  
  
Hermione caught his meaning. Some of them would want to punish him for betraying their former lord and master. Some of them would want to exploit their position as his attorney for the prestige, or perhaps even purposefully fail in his defense out of hope of gain, from either side potentially. It was a slippery slope. At least with a Gryffindor, everything would be on the up and up.  
  
"Point taken." she said.  
  
"Then let's get on with it shall we?"  
  
"Fine. Were you ever in Voldemort's employ?" she asked bluntly. Now that he was gone, few people in the wizarding community felt it necessary to call the deceased dark wizard by anything but his chosen name.  
  
Snape pulled up his left sleeve and said, "Don't be daft, Miss Granger. You know the answer to that one." She winced as she looked at the faded Dark Mark, hardly more than a tattoo now. "I had a mud ... muggle-born student tell me just last spring that I could probably pay to have it removed at a tattoo parlor or someplace." he commented. "But it's been there so long now ..."  
  
Hermione frowned at the narrowly avoided pejorative, which wasn't directed at her, but still ...  
  
"Did you kill anyone?" she questioned.  
  
"What does the scroll there say?" he questioned. "No, never mind. Of course I killed." he snapped.  
  
"How ... How many then?"  
  
"Five."  
  
"You're sure."  
  
"One doesn't lose count of these things, Miss Granger. Two Aurors who had ambushed a group of us. I was the only one who kept my head. A squib shopkeeper on Knockturn Alley. There were three of us there ... Malfoy, MacNair, and myself. We all cast Avada Kedavra simultaneously. And two muggles that strayed close to Voldemort's lair. Malfoy and I took care of them ... That was, let us say, an initiation of sorts." he informed her coolly.  
  
"And do you regret ...?" she began to ask.  
  
"The Aurors? No, that was self-defense. Hard times. Everyone flinging curses left and right ... It was them or us that night. But the rest? I suppose I do regret what happened. They were just by-standers. Harmless. Not on anyone's side really. I wasn't happy about it then, and I ..." he said, suddenly stopping and shaking his head. "I would imagine that a simply 'yes' would suffice."  
  
"Of course." she agreed. "You left the ranks of the Death Eaters before the first fall of Voldemort, correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you acted as a spy during both the first and most recent conflict?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Who do you know that can vouch for your conduct during this time?"  
  
"Only Albus Dumbledore was fully aware of my role."  
  
"That isn't good." said Hermione mostly to herself as she made notes.  
  
"Of course, Potter, Weasley, and you all knew something of it, did you not?"  
  
"That you were a spy, yeah, but none of the specifics, and Harry and Ron never quite believed ..." she started saying, realizing too late that she had said too much.  
  
"That I was loyal to _our_ side?"  
  
"Well ..."  
  
"A simply yes or no would suffice here too, I believe."  
  
"No, they didn't."  
  
"And you? One likes to where one's legal counsel stands on such an issue."  
  
"I believed you." she told him, looking him straight in the eye. He could not bring himself to doubt her.  
  
"Please continue then."  
  
"Professor ..."  
  
"Severus or Snape. I don't care which, but you aren't my student anymore." he snapped.  
  
Hermione grimaced as she said it: "Severus, I really need to review the information the Ministry has given me on your inquiry. I'm not certain that I can ask any additional pertinent questions at the moment. This case ... it's all too sudden."  
  
Severus leaned forward in his seat, his face expressionless as he said to her, "I will pose a question then. Do I have a chance, Miss Granger?"  
  
"Hermione ... It's Hermione. When you say 'Miss' it's like I'm still in my fourth or fifth year." she told him, stalling for time while she considered his question.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Voldemort would have killed Harry his first year without your help, at least that's what Harry grudgingly admits. Albus Dumbledore trusted you with all our lives and the lives of all the students in Hogwarts for many years. And there was the last battle too ... The headmaster may not be ... available right now, but his good opinion is well known and maybe if Harry would testify ... that has to count for something. But then, those people you ..." she said, swallowing hard and trailing off.  
  
"Yes, quite a debt to pay, isn't it?"  
  
"But you risked so much."  
  
"Was it enough? Will it be enough?" he asked. A different man might have sounded desperate, but Snape's voice only held a vaguely questioning tone, as though he inquired of himself and not just of Hermione.  
  
"I don't know." she answered honestly. "These things aren't taken lightly, Severus."  
  
"I know. They ... took my wand." he admitted.  
  
"Your wand?" she questioned incredulously. It was the ultimate sign of distrust in the wizarding world.  
  
"For safe-keeping. Funny, though, taking the wand of a potions' master." he said, looking up with a twinkle in his dark eyes.  
  
"Right ..."  
  
"I will return tomorrow morning. By then, I hope, you will be prepared to discuss ... what we have to discuss ... in more detail." he said, rising from the chair.  
  
"I will be ready." she nodded as he showed himself out. "I hope ..." she added quietly as the door closed behind him.  
  
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A/N: Question for the day: Was the courtroom stuff in GOF vague, or was it just me? Only read it once. Sigh. Review?  
  
  
  



	2. In which Hermione sends letters and has ...

Chapter Two  
  
In which Hermione sends letters and has a dream  
  
  
  
Hermione was good at researching things. She had become quite adept at finding information that was difficult, even nearly impossible to get through normal, ordinary means. She hunted down more than twenty-year-old reports on the three deaths ... and two suspicious disappearances. The inquiry, a rather serious game of question-and-answer, would probably be conducted with the use of Veritaserum, with Snape's permission, of course. To refuse was a sure sign of guilt. So whether the Ministry knew of his involvement in the murders already or not was a moot point. They were certain to find out.  
  
The reports were rather chilling, she had to admit, but she had read a lot worse. Those that Lucius Malfoy had generated, for instance, but she had hardly realized how dark her potions professor's past had really been. Snape had been implicated in many crimes, including abetting the murders of James and Lily Potter, which she knew almost certainly wasn't true. If Severus had known, then surely he had informed someone. Dumbledore, for instance. The elder wizard had vouched for him once, after all, when he was first accused of being a Death Eater. Although, the matter had come to light again ...  
  
"Of all the times to be on holiday or sabbatical ... or wherever Dumbledore's gone." she murmured, making magical copies of all the reports.  
  
Hermione sighed as she tucked the massive pile of scrolls into her satchel. It had first occurred to her to beg off the case when she read about the deaths of the two Aurors. After four Voldemort-free years, the crimes would probably be treated as all the more heinous. People were becoming more sensitive again. They would be eager to throw the book at Snape and forget all about those dark days once more. Sweep everything under the rug, or into Azkaban, as the case may be.  
  
"Dumbledore knew everything he had done ... and he still trusted Snape." she told herself, brushing the thought from her mind. This was something she had to do.  
  
Hermione fastened the clasps of her bag as she prepared to leave the archives. She knew that her next stop had to be the Ministry Owlery. No help for Severus would be found in the dusty cellar containing the ancient past. It could only come from three people, two of whom she knew would be reluctant to help their former professor.  
  
  
The sun was just setting over muggle London when Hermione reached the top of the Ministry of Magic offices and the Owlery. A golden autumn haze hung over the city. It was lovely in its way. She clambered into the small room full of owls that were just beginning to wake for the evening and selected a hardy long-range barn owl. He began preening his feathers while Hermione read over her letter one last time:  
  
"_Dear Professor Dumbledore, I hope this message finds its way to you. Harry never said one way or the other about his letters. In any case I'm sure he sends his regards with mine.  
  
"I don't know whether you've heard or not, so I think I should begin at the beginning. Professor Snape is under investigation for his involvement with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. You may be the only one who can vouch for him, for everything that he did in secret to protect Harry and Hogwarts. I should also add that I am his legal counsel. He has his reasons I suppose for choosing me over someone more experienced, but nevertheless, all the lawyers in the world can't help him if you don't put in a good word on his behalf. Please come to London as soon as you can. The official inquiry begins in just six days.  
  
"Love, Hermione Granger, attorney at law, formerly of Gryffindor House_ ."  
  
"That will have to do." she sighed, sealing the scroll and giving it to the owl. "For Albus Dumbledore." she told it.  
  
The owl cocked its head quizzically before flying from the Owlery and out over the city, its destination uncertain, if not unknown.  
  
After selecting two smaller owls nearby, Hermione removed two more messages from among her effects: one for Harry and one for Ron. The scrolls were small and nearly identical. With any luck they were both in London, but Harry could be anywhere, she knew, playing Quidditch or traveling with the team. For that matter, it was possible that Ron was on assignment somewhere. He had stopped by for a few minutes some weeks before, shortly after returning from a case in France and visit with Fleur Delacour who was teaching at her alma mater. She didn't know for sure how either would take the news or her plea for assistance, but she knew that she had to ask. Without Dumbledore, The-Boy-Who-Lived and his best friend could be Snape's only chance, and Hermione wondered if they thought he deserved one.  
  
"No matter. It's all anyone could do." she told herself, watching the owls wing their way through the evening sky, which was quickly turning dark.  
  
  
Hermione was exhausted by the time she reached her apartment in the wizarding part of London near Diagon Alley. But there was still so much left to do. She couldn't just sit around, waiting for responses to her letter. There was reading to be done, starting with the reports she had not finished in the archives. While hardly entertaining bedtime reading, she wanted to be well-versed in their contents before her next meeting with Snape. Within minutes of entering her small, cluttered apartment, her work desk by the window was covered with scrolls and loose pages.  
  
As the night wore on and the scrolls found their way from the desk to the rug, Hermione began to realize something. Snape had never acted alone. Except perhaps in the case of the shopkeeper, as he had characterized the event, there was nothing in anything that she read that indicated that he himself had ever killed anyone. Hermione frowned. But he had admitted to as much ... He had given her a number, which seemed to correlate with the ... literature.  
  
"Guilt? Snape?" she questioned, shaking her head.  
  
Trying to guess his motives or his mind were both dangerous games. She could assume nothing. But she could question him as much as she liked. Goodness knew that the Ministry would do so when the time came. She felt unequal to the task that was before her. How difficult would it be to defend a man who deep inside believed himself guilty of such terrible crimes? It would have been easier to defend a man who was guilty and believed himself innocent. Almost, she thought, remembering the Veritaserum.  
  
  
  
The corridor was long and dark with a light at the far end, a dismal, gray light that was anything, but cheering. She could feel herself striding purposefully toward it, but she couldn't feel the sense of purpose, only the thudding of her own feet and the echo of more feet behind her as she walked. The lightly treading, soft footfalls of at least three others. Harry? Ron? Dumbledore? She was guessing wildly as the exit drew nearer. Dread crept into her mind, but she could not stop walking, moving forward.  
  
A figure suddenly loomed in her path, black against the gray light. His face was hooded, and he held out one pale hand to halt her. And she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes drifted, looking over his shoulder for a moment, glimpsing an ancient Roman arena behind the man. Or was it a wizard court of law?  
  
"You may not enter here."  
  
"I brought ..."  
  
"No one! You are alone!"  
  
She turned and looked over her shoulder in confusion. He was right. There was no one behind her, no one there.  
  
"But ..." she began.  
  
"You are alone! Give up! Go home!" he barked fiercely, throwing back his hood to reveal the angry, possibly enraged face of Sirius Black.  
  
Hermione screamed, although she wasn't sure why and began running back the way she had come ...  
  
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A/N: Question(s) of the day: Does this story need a better summary? And can everyone tell the last part was a dream? (Don't feel obligated to answer.)  
I want to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter: Penny Clearwater, EireVerde, rhitmcshanm, ress, chris, Lisa, and cloudshape. I really appreciate it!  
And I also want to extend a special thanks to all those who were in any way, shape, or form bothered by the wizarding judicial system (because I am too, although it makes things very interesting).  
And for the record, I have never watched The Practice.  
  
  
  



	3. In which Hermione remembers a lot

Chapter Three  
  
In which Hermione remembers a lot  
  
  
She awoke in a cold sweat very early that morning. A fuzzy sort of light was pouring in through the window as she raised her head from the desk where she had fallen asleep. The chair, she realized, had been a poor substitute for a bed. She stretched the kinks from her back and slowly stood. The dream came back to her image by image in a rush of darkness and fear. Hermione rubbed her eyes and attempted to clear her head. Dreams, her dreams, were usually meaningless. Divinations class had taught her that much. She glanced at the clock in the corner. She had slept only for a few hours, and what a troubled sleep it had been! But there were things to be done. Idleness could not be afforded.  
  
Hermione settled into her morning routine as best as she could. She had just buttoned the last button of her dark blue robes, the standard uniform of those serving in the Ministry legal offices, when there was a knock at her door. She saw her own eyes widen in the mirror.  
  
"No, no, no! He can't have come here!" she thought desperately, more than half assuming that it was her former potions professor. She glanced and winced at the reports on her desk and floor as she dashed to answer the door.  
  
She composed herself before opening it. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognized the robed figure standing in the hallway.  
  
"Professor Lupin! What on earth are you doing here? And at this hour!" she laughed in happy surprise. It was none other than her favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. "Come in!" she added before he could reply.  
  
"I can't just drop by for a visit? I do believe you had issued an invitation ..." he said with a tired, but friendly smile.  
  
"Of course you can. I just wasn't expecting you." she chuckled. "Would you like some breakfast? I could whip something up."  
  
"I'm afraid I can't. Classes at Hogwarts in about two hours. If I weren't in such a rush ..." he shrugged.  
  
"Ah, then this isn't just a visit, now is it?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest.  
  
Remus looked uncomfortable as he ran his hands through his shaggy graying hair.  
  
"I wanted to ask you, on behalf of Sirius and myself, to pass ... on Severus Snape's case, to let someone else handle the matter."  
  
"But why? You know as well as anyone how valuable he was to our side during the war."  
  
Looking more uncomfortable than ever, Remus gestured for Hermione to take a seat while he sank heavily into a chair himself, and said, "Sirius ... spent years in Azkaban."  
  
"I know that, but what has it got to do with Snape?" she questioned impatiently.  
  
"When the Potters were murdered ... and when Sirius was accused of betraying them and killing Peter Pettigrew and others ... Snape could have come forward, or come forward more quickly, with information to save all three of them. But he didn't. Hermione, some things can be forgiven. Little grudges from childhood, for instance. Some things cannot be. Like ..."  
  
"Withholding information?"  
  
"When its consequences are so severe." nodded Remus.  
  
"But you don't have any proof. You can't possibly. I have read all the reports, you know."  
  
"There are some things you just know."  
  
"Remus ... you would send someone, you would send Severus Snape, to Azkaban possibly for the rest of his life on a feeling, on ... nothing more than a hunch?"  
  
The professor looked away and sighed, "You're young, Hermione. You don't remember those days ... back then. For all the good he might have done since, Snape is still the man who let Sirius take the fall for Peter Pettigrew's actions. And believe me, the only things that have stopped him from taking those years in Azkaban out of Snape's hide are the fact that Severus helped Harry and because Sirius believes, has always believed, that the Dark Lord's servants would get their due."  
  
Hermione shifted in her seat as she remembered her dream, remembered Sirius blocking the path between her and the courtroom. Talk about a premonition. Just as Snape had long hated Sirius Black for attempting to lure him to his death, Sirius hated Severus for attempting to deliver him over to the dementors.  
  
"Then you don't believe that a man may make amends?"  
  
"In his case, no, I don't suppose that I do. I wish ... I wish that I didn't remember so much. I wish that life could be like it should be now, happy and free of old grudges and crimes unatoned for, but it can't be. Not ..."  
  
"Until the last reminder of the wars, of Voldemort, of all of that have been neatly swept under the rug or into prison. Who's next? Harry? Ron? Me? You? Aren't we all just nasty reminders of darker days?" she questioned hotly.  
  
Remus hung his head for a moment, nodding as he conceded her point.  
  
"I know I won't be able to dissuade you, but ... can I at least ask you why you agreed to defend him?"  
  
"I'm not sure." she admitted, a thousand different answers coming to mind at once.  
  
"Does it have anything to do with the last battle and ... after?" questioned Lupin, looking up at her with his keen, but sad eyes.  
  
Hermione gripped the arms of her chair and squeezed her own eyes closed. Some things were very difficult to forget ...  
  
  
  
  
Her ears were still ringing and she just knew that she had a concussion. It was the darkest part of the night, and a heavy mist had rolled over the school grounds and vicinity. Sparks, here and there, illuminated the grounds. Signs of battle. Green flashes. Red Flashes. Sometimes more green than red. Forbidden curses being cast. Hermione clutched her injured arm to her chest, grateful that she had kept a good grip on her wand nevertheless. Somewhere behind her in a ring of scorched grass Pansy Parkinson lay dead. Somewhere in front of her in the fog, Harry was fighting his final duel with Voldemort, just months before his eighteenth birthday and days before graduation. She knew that she had to find him, or die in the attempt, which seemed far more likely.  
  
Stumbling through the mist, which had become a light drizzle, the sound of a familiar voice crying out in pain drew her attention. She could tell, even from a distance, that someone was being hit by the Cruciatus Curse. For a moment she hesitated. Her duty was to find Harry, and it wasn't his agonized voice reverberating through the fog. She adjusted her grip on her wand and began moving through the rainy night. Uncertain as to Harry's location, not to mention her ability to aid him, she turned her faltering steps toward the painful screams.  
  
She slowly followed the sound to the edge of the Dark Forest, stopping only when she beheld a startling scene before her. It was Voldemort himself, delivering the Cruciatus Curse to a raven-hared wizard in flowing black robes who stood over a thin fallen form. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched Severus Snape take curse after curse, crying out, but not flinching. He held his position over the young wizard, over Harry Potter, regardless of the pain.   
  
As Hermione stood there, rooted to the spot in terror, she saw Harry move, raising his wand arm and the hand that held the brother of the instrument that tortured his protector. As Severus finally crumpled to the ground, Harry rolled to the side and pointed his wand at Voldemort. His youth that had at first betrayed him, made him susceptible to the first painful curses used by the dark wizard, gave him the speed he needed to cast one deadly spell before Voldemort could turn to strike. In that moment Voldemort toppled to the ground in a heap of seared robes, and to Hermione Granger it felt as though the world stopped. She watched Harry clamber slowly to his feet, swaying dizzily as he wiped the blood from his face. He had defeated Voldemort.  
  
Her eyes drifted to the motionless form of the potions' master. _They_ had defeated Voldemort, she amended.  
  
  
It was chaos. None of Voldemort's supports would go down without a struggle. The battle raged on even as Hermione and a very dazed Harry Potter half carried, half dragged the rigid, trembling body of their professor from the field and back toward the castle, which was in shambles. Gryffindor Tower had practically collapsed in upon itself during the first assault. How the wards had been broken, or weakened so severely, no one could really say even after the night was over. It had taken much of the dark wizards' power to do it. That much was certain.  
  
They made their way to the castle infirmary where dozens upon dozens of cots had been made up. They were occupied by the injured and the dying. The dead were covered with thin shrouds in the corner, enemy lying by the side of friend, equal and undifferentiated in death. Hermione glimpsed a few familiar faces peering through the shrouds: Lavender Brown, Pansy Parkinson, Argus Filch, Assistant Professor George Weasley, young Crabbe and Goyle, Professor Minerva McGonagall, and many more. She looked away with a shudder as they made their way to an empty cot where they deposited Snape. Harry had yet to say a word to her. He seemed to be in some sort of shock.  
  
Harry sat down heavily on the floor by the makeshift hospital bed while Hermione glanced around the over-crowded room in search of Madam Pomfrey. She spied the overwhelmed mediwitch flitting from patient to patient like a pixie on a caffeine high. Still holding her aching wand arm to her chest Hermione waved her over. The witch let out a little shriek as she saw Harry, Hermione, and the professor.  
  
"Is it over? Is it over?" she questioned them as she rushed over. Many people were staring in their direction, holding their breaths.  
  
Hermione looked down at Harry as the young wizard raised his head.  
  
"Yes." he replied just before he finally fainted from pain and exhaustion.  
  
  
In the days that followed many things were uncertain. Who was dead, who was missing, who was alive, and who was going to die. The mediwitches were hard put to save those that could be saved. And Hermione remained in the hospital wing for many days with her arm in a sling because they were all beginning to rely on rudimentary muggle medicine out of desperation and want. They were running out of potions at an alarming rate, but that was no small surprise. The chief maker of potions for the school was lying upon a cot near the rear of the hospital wing where a young woman with curly hair and a broken arm bided her time in the space between his bed and that of Harry Potter.  
  
Severus Snape was unconscious, broken like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and deathly pale. The human body, whether it belonged to a wizard or muggle, could only bear so much punishment, so much physical pain. His body's limit had been found, it seemed. And it nearly wounded her to see him in such a state, knowing what he had done, knowing how he had earned it. Hermione was grateful and yet sad. Perhaps that was why she remained there with the dour, ever unpleasant man.  
  
Every bit of good news had a bittersweet taste to it. When Ron returned after days of being lost in the Dark Forest, during which time he decided to pursue the idea of becoming an Auror, though for reasons he was never quite comfortable explaining, Hermione had been happy. Then as they stood by Harry's bedside where The-Boy-Who-Lived slept a dreamless sleep, their eyes drifted toward where Snape lay, paralyzed and perhaps dying.  
  
"Ugly git. I wonder what side he fought for when the chips were down." said Ron.  
  
"Ours." Hermione whispered. "I was there."  
  
Then when Neville and Ginny came out of their comas, she had been very glad. Voldemort had taken other happy couples from their midst and others death had split asunder, but not those two. But a nagging part of her mind wondered when Professor Snape would return from his coma, and if he would ever do so. She had begun to doubt it, though she did not forsake her watch upon him even when the dead were laid to rest and Gryffindor Tower was restored to them, long after Harry had awakened and begun to truly heal.  
  
  
It was in the early darkness of evening when Professor Lupin, who had passed through the fire all but unscathed, came to visit two of the last patients of the ward, a quietly convalescing Harry Potter and desperately wounded Severus Snape. Hermione had been unaware of him for a long time as she sat in a comfortable chair close to Snape's bed. Every evening she told him the news of the day, and often there was so much of it that she could not tell him everything that had happened. She knew later, of course, that Remus had watched her gently rub Snape's pale hands, trying so hard to evoke a response from the comatose potions' master.   
  
Hermione turned only when Remus cleared his throat, interrupting her quiet and one-sided conversation. She looked up into his knowing, piercing eyes as she released Snape's hand. His eyes always seemed sadder after the day of the final battle, the day that he had been forced to kill young Draco Malfoy, who had carried the Dark Mark for just less than a year.  
  
"You know there is a place for you in the tower. The beds have been repaired and the common room is filled with pleasant and friendly voices again. Or so I hear." he told her softly.  
  
"I know, but I don't feel quite right leaving them yet." she admitted.  
  
"Harry will return tomorrow. Madam Pomfrey is letting him go. Will you remain when there is only one of them here? Will you stay only for him?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Graduation is scheduled for next week ... What will you do then?"  
  
"I haven't exactly decided."  
  
"You shouldn't stay here. It wouldn't be good for you, not after all that has happened. The Ministry is always hiring ..."  
  
"Yes." she agreed, glancing at Severus.  
  
"Hermione, don't waste your concern on him. Go sleep in a real bed tonight and tomorrow, start planning for your future. I know it will be a bright one." Lupin advised her.  
  
She left her chair reluctantly, not affording Snape another glance. She could not have borne it. It was heart rending to leave him after so long.  
  
"Yes, professor." she replied quietly as Remus slipped an arm around her shoulders, leading her toward the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
The next morning Professor Snape awoke from his coma to the relief of many and the consternation of some.  
  
  
  
  
"Hermione? Are you all right?" questioned the soft, worried voice of Professor Lupin.  
  
She rubbed her eyes, tearing herself away from the memories of the past, and managed a smile.  
  
"Yes, of course, professor." she answered, a small quaver in her voice giving her away.  
  
Remus smiled softly and pulled a hunk of chocolate from inside his robes and handed it to her. Hermione blinked away a few tears.  
  
"The dementors have been confined to Azkaban, you know. This is hardly necessary." she informed him.  
  
"Or an acceptable breakfast, but old habits die hard."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I think you answered my question though. You are doing this for Severus, aren't you? Not because of honor or duty, but because of _him_."  
  
"You weren't there, Remus. You didn't see what he did to save Harry. He very nearly gave his life ..." she answered.  
  
Remus patted her knee gently as he rose from his chair.  
  
"I just wanted to know if you were doing this for the right reason. The man, in my opinion, deserves a good defense, even if his actions in the past did warrant a long stretch in the deepest hole in Azkaban, possibly even the Dementor's Kiss. Sirius doesn't share my sentiments, which I must confess are not without certain misgivings that won't be easily allayed. I can't say that he won't try to hinder you in some way." he said.  
  
"Then you ...?"  
  
"Hold fewer grudges than some people. Good luck, Hermione. I have the distinct feeling that you will need luck in spades to pull this one off."  
  
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A/N: I can't think of a good question today. My sincere thanks go out to the three people who reviewed: Irene, cloudshape, and Laura.   
Just FYI I have revamped the summary.  
  
  
  



	4. In which Severus remembers a lot more

Chapter Four  
  
In which Severus remembers a lot more  
  
  
Hermione was forced to apparate to her office that morning, which was never something that she enjoyed, but she would have been late otherwise. She stashed her satchel underneath her desk, knowing that Snape would be there promptly when the offices opened for the day. He was a man with a limited amount of time and not likely to be late. She pulled a few pages of notes from her bag and began going over them while she waited, which was not long.  
  
The knock at her door was almost painfully loud, not to mention impatient and terse. She frowned, momentarily picturing an aged wizard knocking on a round door with his staff, an image from one of her favorite muggle children's books. She shook her head. The wizard on the other side of that door was neither old nor likely to be bearing a staff.  
  
"Yes?" she called, shuffling her notes.  
  
Severus walked into her office and sank into the chair in front of her temporarily rather untidy desk without a word.  
  
"Good morning ... Severus."  
  
"Hermione." he acknowledged.  
  
"You never killed anyone in anything less than a fair fight, did you?" she accused, not waiting for him to become too comfortable.  
  
"I beg your pardon," he said with some annoyance, "but I believe we have covered that already."  
  
"You were an accomplice, and perhaps an at least half willing one, but you never murdered anyone single-handed, did you?"  
  
He looked uncertain. Even as he sneered at her, the look in his eyes was one of hesitance.  
  
"No." he answered.  
  
"I am much relieved." she said.  
  
"But I allowed it to happen."  
  
"That brings up some interesting questions. Did you stand by and _allow_ Voldemort to kill James and Lily Potter?"  
  
"I had already ... altered my loyalties by then. I wasn't present that night. It can be verified I'm sure." he answered.  
  
"But did you know about it?" she pressed, wanting to put an end to certain doubts Remus had cast into her mind.  
  
"Everyone knew that they were his enemies. They _were_ hiding from him. How could anyone have not known that he would go after them eventually?" he questioned sharply.  
  
"And?"  
  
"No, I didn't know. I only suspected ... and maybe I should have told someone, but at the time ... it didn't seem as though ... I never thought it would be then. I never realized that Peter Pettigrew could or would betray them like that, even if his loyalties were even more uncertain than mine." stated Severus painfully.  
  
"Good." Hermione nodded.  
  
"And, yes, maybe I didn't care." Severus added, shaking his head. "You must make quite the prosecuting attorney." he commented dryly, recovering and returning to his usual demeanor.  
  
"Thank you ... I think." said Hermione. She glanced at the Pensieve that she kept in a little case on her bookshelf. "You know, it might be a little more helpful if we went for a walk, especially if you aren't going to be entirely objective about the past."  
  
"And a walk would fix that?" he asked sourly.  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"Where will we be walking then?" Severus questioned.  
  
"Down memory lane, if you don't object too strenuously." she said, leaving her seat to retrieve the Pensieve.  
  
Snape looked uneasy as she drew the stone basin from its glass cupboard. It was not an especially easy thing to ask of anyone. It was very difficult to ask it of someone so secretive as Severus Snape. Hermione knew that and made light of the request for that very reason. She had never cared for Pensieves herself, using hers only once or twice since she had acquired it.  
  
"Why?" he questioned as she set the Pensieve on her desk between them.  
  
"Because I don't think you're telling me as much as you could. And I want very much to help you."  
  
"I don't believe I can manage this without a wand." he said, lowering his eyes uncomfortably.  
  
"Are you saying you'll do it then?" Hermione questioned. Severus nodded mutely. "Then I believe I can help with that part as well." she said, removing her wand from her pocket.  
  
"Let's get this unpleasantness over with then." he sighed.  
  
  
By the time the ordeal was finished, Severus looked quite tired and unsettled. The strain of helping him transfer his thoughts and memories to the magical instrument was beginning to tell on Hermione as well. They sat there looking at the silvery, shimmering contents of the Pensieve for quite sometime before either of them chose to speak.  
  
"You ready to go in?" she inquired, tucking her wand away.  
  
"Me? Why must I 'go in', as you have so ineloquently put it?" he questioned sharply.  
  
"From what I understand, these things can usually do with a bit of explanation. How would I know anyone's name, for instance? I will need a guide." she said, not put off by his comment.  
  
"Very well." he grudgingly agreed.  
  
"Would you care for some herbal tea or something first?" she asked.  
  
He raised an eyebrow and sneered ever-so-slightly before replying, "No thank you, Hermione. I imagine we will both want to do this on an empty stomach. I hope you didn't have a heavy breakfast."  
  
"No, just some chocolate." she murmured almost inaudibly, staring down at her desk and wondering what she had gotten herself into.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing. I think I can handle it." she said, looking up.  
  
"Shall we then?" questioned Snape, pursing his lips unpleasantly.  
  
  
They stood over the desk and sank their hands into the bubbling silvery substance. For Hermione it was like being sucked suddenly into a cold, bleak world, dark and inhospitable. She squeezed her eyes closed until the feeling began to dissipate. When she opened them again, the first thing she noticed was Severus staring at her. He looked strained, but calm.  
  
"Are you ready now?" he asked her. His silken voice reverberated through the emptiness around them.  
  
"I think so." she said, shivering against the coldness. "Why didn't I think to bring a scarf or something? I should have known the inner workings of his mind would be like a meat locker!" she admonished herself. "Yeah, and a scarf would fix that!" she thought, frowning.  
  
"Follow me." said Snape, walking away into the gloom.  
  
She shrugged and followed him, gradually realizing that the world was beginning to flesh out around them. She could see paving stones under her feet and indistinct buildings. Then she realized that a night sky, full of bright and twinkling stars, was over them.  
  
"Where is this?" she asked.  
  
"Near a place ..." he replied, glancing behind. "Look." he nodded.  
  
Hermione stopped and turned, seeing five figures in solemn black robes and hoods that obscured their faces. One was carrying a lantern that gave off an eerie, pale greenish light. Severus and Hermione stepped out of the way as they passed, observing them.  
  
"Who are they?" she asked.  
  
"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle ... the elders ones. Malfoy bears the lantern. Lestrange. And, of course, me." he explained, following after them.  
  
Hermione looked at the last Death Eater in the line for a moment, hesitating to move forward and glimpse beneath his heavy hood. She could see something of a hooked nose. It was Snape as he had been many years ago.  
  
Severus and Hermione fell into step behind the small throng.  
  
"Where are we going?" she questioned.  
  
"The destination was ... a pub, I believe, near Diagon Alley. We were going to terrorize the patrons, many of whom were ... muggle-born witches and wizards and sympathizers. We were to put the fear of Lord Voldemort into them." he told her.  
  
Two of the Death Eaters ahead were speaking. Hermione quickened her steps to listen to them.  
  
"Snape, what's the matter with you? Anyone would think you didn't want to be here. I'm surprised. You don't come out with us often and you sulk when you do." laughed Lucius Malfoy, not very kindly.  
  
"Snape's always sulky. Our master's calls are forever spoiling his dinner plans." said a feminine voice from among the crowd, Lestrange, Hermione decided. The other members of the party laughed.  
  
The Death Eater Snape merely 'hmphed' and quickened his steps a bit.  
  
"So you were coerced?" Hermione questioned, looking back at Severus, who looked just as displeased as his memory counterpart sounded.  
  
"No, I was only ... slightly reticent." he answered as she returned to his side.  
  
As they rounded a corner two Aurors apparated in front of the five Death Eaters with wands drawn. The lantern crashed to the stones and went out. Curses were shouted by the two Aurors, causing Lestrange and Malfoy to shriek in pain, fear, and confusion as they fell to the ground. Crabbe and Goyle shoved past Snape and retreated down a nearby alleyway, leaving their companions to fend for themselves. Then Hermione saw Snape draw his wand.  
  
"_Expelliarmus_!" he cried, directing the spell toward the Auror attacking Lestrange, whose hood had fallen back to reveal the twisted face of an evil, but once very beautiful young witch. The wand flew from the Auror's hand and clattered on the stones somewhere behind them. Snape shouted the spell a second time, but the other Auror, a faceless individual, blocked the spell completely.  
  
"_Crucio_!" Lestrange cried, finally managing to get to her wand.  
  
The Auror writhed in agony, losing his grip on his own wand, which Lucius Malfoy, none the worse for wear, kicked out of the way before turning his attention to the first Auror.  
  
"_Avada Kedavra_!" Malfoy cried out angrily.  
  
Lestrange took care of the second Auror in a similar fashion moments later.  
  
Hermione found herself gripping a fist full of cloth, Severus's shirt, as the scene slowly faded to black again. She had not witnessed such an attack in several years, not since the final battle with Voldemort. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Somehow, she thought it would have been easier. It wasn't real. What she had seen was only a memory from a time before she was even born. It should have been nothing more. A gentle arm encircled her shoulders.  
  
"I ... I threw up later, but at least we don't have to see that part." said Severus dryly. "Are you quite all right, Hermione?" he asked.  
  
She could feel his hands, his entire body, shaking too in the darkness and coldness that had enveloped them as the fight had ended. She slowly released her death-grip on his shirt.  
  
"It all happened so quickly." she said, disguising her own ragged breathing with a cough.  
  
"That's exactly how I felt at the time. No time for thoughts ... for words ... only action."  
  
"And you acted to defend your friends from attack."  
  
"Perhaps." he shrugged, removing his arm from her shoulders and stepping back.  
  
She turned and asked him, "Where to now?"  
  
"The control I have over our destination is rather limited ..." he said as a store front in an alley coalesced in front of them.  
  
It was mid afternoon on an overcast wintry day, and their destination was Knockturn Alley, a less reputable street in wizarding London. Hermione looked around for a moment, the fear finally fading as she saw Diagon Alley only a few hundred meters down the way. Then Hermione glanced at the shop, which sold used magic books and so forth.  
  
"Is this the place?" she asked calmly, feeling a sick sense of dread as she glimpsed a wizened old man standing behind a counter inside the shop.  
  
"Yes." Severus nodded. "Shall we step inside? I believe we are a few moments early for our appointment."  
  
Hermione only nodded as he opened the door for her and they entered the cozy little shop. Severus looked around for a moment and ushered her into a niche between two bookshelves.  
  
"We should be able to observe from here." he said tersely.  
  
Three figures in the garb of Death Eaters almost instantly apparated into the shop. Hermione recognized Malfoy and Snape and presumed the third to be MacNair. The shopkeeper was obviously paralyzed with fear. She could see his knuckles whiten as he gripped the edge of the counter. His eyes were wide with abject terror. He seemed to know why they were there.  
  
"Angelos, you filthy squib, didn't we tell you to be off the premises before the end of the month?" asked MacNair, once a very ardent supporter of Voldemort and then a servant of the Ministry of Magic before returning to his master.  
  
"I'm not doing anyone any harm. I only sell books. What is your master's quarrel with me?" he asked them in a panicky voice, looking at their hooded faces one by one.  
  
"You profane the wizarding world by your very existence! How dare you question the law and the will of Lord Voldemort?" snarled a hateful and familiar voice. Hermione hesitated a side long glance at Severus to see him place a hand over his eyes. "Leave now and you have your life!" the Death Eater told the old man.  
  
"Snape," said Malfoy sharply, "you know our bidding. It is too late for this wretch."  
  
"Draw your wands." ordered MacNair.  
  
The trio threw back their hoods and drew out their wands from within the folds of their heavy robes. Hermione watched Snape's face as they prepared to cast a curse upon the poor, trembling man.  
  
As they cast the unforgivable curse, Avada Kedavra, she saw his lips move, "_Avada_ ..." And no more. His voice only partially joined with theirs in the dark deed.  
  
A strangled sob echoed through the darkness as the image of what had happened faded away. Hermione blinked as the green light, the last sight they had seen of that memory, vanished. She turned to Severus, who had both hands clasped over his face, struggling with the tangled emotions of rage, regret, shame, and fear.  
  
"Severus, you didn't say all of the curse. You didn't kill that man." she said, sounding more astonished than she meant to.  
  
"But I believed ... I believed that he _was_ just a filthy squib. I didn't try to stop them. I ... did nothing." he said.  
  
"Perhaps, but they can't send you to Azkaban for nothing." she told him, hesitantly putting a hand on his arm, gently pulling his hands from his face. Hermione could see that it was a struggle for him even to look at her. "We can go now ... if you would like. We don't have to see it all right now." she said quietly.  
  
"No ... best to get it over with."  
  
The darkness slowly morphed into a woodland around them. Two wizards, Lucius Malfoy and Snape, were lounging against two large oaks. It was late in the day and a bit foggy, and a fresh woodland scent was in the air.  
  
"You're certain there are muggles here about?" questioned Snape with a distasteful look on his face. His eyes were hard and empty, but not without a certain nervousness and hesitance.  
  
"The master said so." nodded Malfoy. "Says they're coming up this way."  
  
"And we are to lead them astray or ...?"  
  
"Snape, you know damn well why _we're_ out here. Lord Voldemort doesn't want a repeat of the squib incident. You saved my life once. Not to mention Lestrange. The master likes you, but he has to know that you are with us one hundred percent. I'm to make sure that there is a minimum of two corpses out here by morning. Three, if you don't do what's expected." said Malfoy.  
  
"Fine." nodded Snape, narrowing his eyes.  
  
"I think I hear them." said Malfoy, pulling his hood up and over his face. Snape followed suit. "Buck up. They're only muggles, after all." he said, clapping Snape on the shoulder.  
  
Severus nodded toward them, and they began following the Death Eaters through the forest. Hermione noticed that Severus seemed to be sweating heavily. That was not a good sign of things to come.  
  
A good bit of walking brought them to a clearing where the Death Eaters, Severus, and Hermione stood in the shadows watching two muggles, a man and a woman in hiking clothes, sit down on a fallen log in order to read over a map. Apparently they were lost. For a memory their faces appeared unusually clear. She was blond and rather pretty, despite her slightly unkempt hair and smudged face. He was very rugged looking, but he had a pleasant smile and at least a two-days growth of stubble on his face.  
  
"I know what would really make the master proud." Hermione heard Malfoy whisper in Snape's ear, nodding toward the woman. She watched Snape stiffen and look at Malfoy in disgust. "Very well." Malfoy murmured. "Let's get this over with."  
  
They drew their wands as they stepped into the clearing. Severus and Hermione watched as they hit the two muggles with full body binds. They never even saw what hit them.  
  
"How does the master want it done?" asked Snape.  
  
"Slowly." said Malfoy. "But ... it will satisfy my ... doubts if you just kill one of them." He pointed his wand at the man and said, "_Avada Kedavra_ !" Snape flinched at the green flash, but nothing more. His reaction was hardly noticeable. His non-memory counterpart gasped softly.  
  
Snape threw back his hood and looked up at the evening sky. Hermione looked up as well and felt a pang of awe and wonder. The wispy clouds overhead were a deep purple, framed by the billiant pink and orange of the setting sun. It was lovely. Then she turned her eyes back to Snape who was slowly circling his soon-to-be victim. Malfoy was looking on with a bored expression.  
  
"Oh, do get on with it." said Lucius with an impatient sigh.  
  
Snape raised his wand and began saying a curse. Hermione strained to make out the words, but a cry ripped through the air. Before she knew what was happening, Severus ran past her and threw himself at his younger self as though to tackle him. He went right through the image, landing in the dirt with an audible thump. He pulled himself up and began screaming at the Death Eater that he had once been, losing all control.  
  
The memory, however, continued to progress, unaware of the emotional state of its viewer. Hermione, leaving the 'safety' of the shadows walked forward, watching Snape cast curse after curse on the defenseless woman at his feet until blood began to pour from her eyes and ears and Severus, kneeling in the dust, screamed incomprehensibly at ... himself.   
  
Her stomach wanted to heave as she watched, and she was grateful that it was empty. When the woman finally lay still, mercifully dead, Hermione knelt beside Severus, who was beginning at last to weep. His screams had ceased. She looked into the eyes of the Death Eater one final time as blackness began to consume them and saw tears that could not be shed and a shame and self-loathing that could not be missed.  
  
Hermione pulled Severus into her arms in the darkness, holding him against the powerful sobs and thinking the same thing over and over again: "How could _that _have been _him_? How could _that _have been _him_ ?"  
  
He clung to her tearfully, and she allowed it. She could not thrust him away, could not call him a murderer, even though it was true. She had seen it with her own eyes.   
  
She felt the tears that were sliding unimpeded down his cheeks as he pressed his forehead to her neck. The tears were slow to subside. She rubbed his back as her mind continued to spin. Severus's body began to relax and she shifted his weight until she held his head in her lap. He was trembling all over, quaking with a torrent of long suppressed emotions, just as he had trembled from the aftermath of the Cruciatus Curse years before ...  
  
The inky darkness gradually became a grayness, and the grayness became the hospital wing at Hogwarts. She raised her eyes and beheld herself, seated in a comfortable chair and holding her ailing potions' professor's hand. Glancing down at Severus, it was an interesting tableau, she realized.  
  
"Where are we?" asked the Severus whose hair she was stroking absently. His teeth were chattering, and his voice was raw.  
  
"One of my memories, I'm afraid. You must have blacked out for a moment." she explained as he sat up.  
  
He was watching her, young Miss Granger the seventh year Gryffindor, as she told him the news of the day.  
  
"Neville and Ginny have been released from the hospital wing today. They look good really. Neville lost a few pounds, but then I guess being in a coma will do that. You're beginning to look a little thin yourself. Let's see ... The work on Gryffindor Tower is going rather well. But don't suppose you'd care about that. A few more arrests were made in London today. The names weren't familiar, but everyone, the professors especially, seemed relieved, so that must be good news ..." she said to the unconscious potions' master.  
  
Hermione blushed slightly as Severus looked at her with a bewildered and amazed expression on his face.  
  
"It was you!" he exclaimed loudly.  
  
"I ... I can explain. You see, your bed was right next to Harry's and ... and it became something of a habit." she stammered.  
  
Severus put a hand on her shoulder and said, "I never recognized the voice, but I always heard you ... out there, talking to me when I was ... lost. I thought I was dead after the battle, imprisoned in a dark, shadowy, endless hell. Then someone would speak to me ... and I was comforted."  
  
"Really?" she questioned.  
  
"Yes, always." he told her, wiping his tearstained face on his sleeve.  
  
"I'm glad." said Hermione, blinking rapidly, but managing to keep her composure.   
  
She clambered to her feet and offered Severus a hand up as her memory faded away. He accepted it and stood there looking at her for sometime before he grasped both of her hands in his.  
  
  
The world of memories faded around them, and Hermione found herself standing behind her desk once again. Severus still held both of her hands. They leaned toward each other across the Pensieve and for a moment, she thought they would kiss, but then she remembered that he was her client and a man under investigate for terrible crimes, one of which he had actually committed, and she pulled away, squeezing his hands before she released them.  
  
"I think we've been through quite enough today." she said, smiling tightly.  
  
Severus wiped his eyes again as he nodded mutely. He felt drained to the very core of his being.  
  
"Did you learn anything in there? I know I did." he said.  
  
"Yes, I did too." she agreed.  
  
"And?"  
  
"We have our work cut out for us, but it isn't as hopeless as it seemed yesterday morning, and that's a good thing."  
  
"We seem to have missed lunch ... and dinner, depending on whether you take it early or late." said Severus, glancing at her clock.  
  
"I didn't realize ..."  
  
"Have dinner with me?"  
  
Hermione hesitated. The terrible images were beginning to fade and she had worked up quite an appetite. But she was cautious. Dinner ... with Snape? She could see that turning out badly in a number of ways. Her stomach growled, and she knew her cupboard at home was bare.  
  
"Please?" he said, noting her hesitance.  
  
"All right." she finally agreed.  
  
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A/N: Question of the day: Was this chapter too long? (I'm trying not to get bogged down.)  
Thanks for reviewing, Egyptian Mistress Isis, mavidian, EireVerde, Redone, Laura, Kitty, caius julius, anonymous reviwer, and KAOS.  
I never plan anything. It just happens.  
  
  



	5. In which they have dinner and Hermione h...

Chapter Five  
  
In which they have dinner and Hermione has another dream  
  
  
They walked together to a small restaurant on Diagon Alley, thankfully far from the entrance to Knockturn Alley, where they managed to finagle a small table in a dark corner. Severus looked very thoughtful as they silently waited for their food, which would not take long. It was, after all, not a muggle restaurant, although those were becoming quite fashionable.  
  
"Were you surprised, Hermione?" he asked her.  
  
"Hmmm?" she questioned, having been lost in her own thoughts as well.  
  
"What I did. Were you ... surprised?"  
  
"Well, yes, I think I was. I didn't believe that you could ever ..." she said, trailing off uncomfortably.  
  
"Funny. There was a time when I didn't think I could kill either." he said as their meal arrived. The waiter gave Severus an odd look before hurrying away.  
  
"For what it's worth, I know that in your past you made mistakes... and I know you are a different person now. I can see both sides of the coin. I know what you did for our side in the final battle too."  
  
Severus smiled hesitantly and touched her hand across the table.  
  
"Then you may be the only one. And I am grateful."  
  
She looked into his eyes, the depths of them suddenly growing warm, and smiled too.  
  
"Now if only I can find a way to save you from Azkaban ..." she thought to herself, saying nothing as they turned their attention to their meal. To say anything more would have been too difficult.  
  
  
It was long after nightfall when they left the restaurant and began walking down the street. It was chilly and relatively quiet. After a block or so, Severus paused at the entrance to a ramshackle residential hotel. Hermione stopped too.  
  
"This is where I'm living at the moment. I didn't want to risk a long commute, especially without a wand." he explained.  
  
"I understand." she said.  
  
"Would you ... Would you like to come up? Have a nightcap perhaps?" he questioned hesitantly.  
  
Hermione was surprised by the invitation, and part of her desperately wanted to accept, even though she knew that she shouldn't. But that little part of her mind, possibly the same part that had sent her on mad quests with Harry and Ron, was very strong for its supposed size.  
  
"I suppose a nightcap would be quite nice." she said with a smile.  
  
Severus could not hide his surprise. He had anticipated a very painful 'no' to be her response, or possibly laughter.  
  
"Excellent." he said, offering her his arm and escorting her into the building.  
  
  
His room, or rather set of rooms, that he was renting for the month was quite elegantly decorated. Hermione had expected something more dungeon like. She made herself comfortable on the couch, watching him prepare two glasses at a nearby table. Severus's hands were still shaking, she noticed. Upon reflection it had been a rough day. That was obvious, but how much worse had it been for him?  
  
"If only I could make it better ..." she began to muse before stopping herself.  
  
Severus pressed a glass of wine into her hand before settling down next to her.  
  
"You were with me every day for months and I never knew. No wonder I came running to you in my hour of need." he said, taking a sip of his drink.  
  
"Please, do we really need to discuss that now?" she asked, sipping her wine.  
  
"If you will answer honestly one question for me, then we need not speak on the subject again tonight if you do not wish it."  
  
"Fine." she agreed.  
  
"Why?"  
  
She rubbed her eyes for a moment, remembering how brave he had been, how un-Slytherin, when he stood over Harry to protect him. And then, how broken, how terribly injured as he lay in the hospital wing somewhere between life and death. It was all so long ago ... but none of the emotion, none of the memory had faded. She had stayed because she had seen something in him that she could not bear to see lost. Some could call it goodness. Some, humanity. Whatever its name, she had beheld something in Severus Snape that she had loved.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"I stayed because I didn't want to lose you ... not after all that you did, not after everything that I saw in you." she managed to say before downing her glass of wine and blinking away more tears.  
  
"But I was always such a horrible beast to you." he said, shaking his head in bewilderment. His cheeks had become infused with a hint of scarlet.  
  
"I know." she chuckled. "But that was just your way ... and I know why now. You never wanted anyone to get close enough to see the real you."  
  
"I feel suddenly transparent."  
  
"Is that such a bad thing, Severus?"  
  
"Not with you."  
  
Before she realized it, Severus leaned toward her and began kissing her softly upon the lips. She closed her eyes for a blissful moment.  
  
"Hermione Granger! You are kissing a client! This is highly inappropriate! Do you even realize the kind of trouble ....?" her brain screamed as her eyes flew open.  
  
She jerked away from him suddenly, her glass falling to the floor and shattering into tiny glittering shards. The pained look in his eyes was unmistakable.  
  
"Severus ..." she began, feeling painfully stupid and regretful at the same time.  
  
"I apologize. I should not have attempted to force my affections upon you ... twice in one day." he said.  
  
"No, no, you weren't ... It's just ... There are rules." she stammered, leaving the comfortable couch as he came to his feet.  
  
"Yes, there are. Rules. I should understand rules." he agreed, berating himself.  
  
"Severus, I do ... I _do_ ... have these feelings for you ... and nothing would make me happier than to act upon them, but don't you see! If we chose to do anything ... If I stayed with you tonight, then I couldn't help you anymore!" she said loudly, the tears finally falling from her eyes and cascading down her cheeks.  
  
His face twisted for a moment and he nodded that he understood. He clenched one hand into a fist and looked away.  
  
"Hermione ... go then ... please." was all that Severus could tell her.  
  
  
It had been years since Hermione had cried herself to sleep. She wasn't a little girl anymore. It was silly, she told herself, to cry over a man she had not seen in four years, a man with a past, a man part villain and part hero. She knew he could never see himself in those terms, as heroic or brave, but she had glimpsed those qualities in him. As she lay curled up under her covers, she was torn between longing and despair, knowing both what she felt for him and that his fate was not likely to be a pleasant one. She wasn't sure when sleep finally overcame her, a mercy in and of itself, and she could not remember dreaming that night either.  
  
But during the hours not so long before sunrise, a light rapping at her window awakened her. She knew the sound: an owl's beak against glass. She threw on a housecoat against the chill and went to the window. A small snowy white owl sat there. It was Finwig, one of Hedwig's offspring. Hermione smiled with relief as she let the bird inside. It dropped a small letter into her hands before finding a corner in which to warm up. Hermione opened the letter anxiously.  
  
"_Dear Hermione, I am so sorry you've missed Harry. He just went to Ireland with the team. I read your letter because I assumed it was urgent. Looks like I was right. And I forwarded it to Harry, who is certain to receive it in a day or so. I know Professor Snape was horrible to most you, Harry especially, but I do wish you luck, although I can't imagine how you ended up with his case. Sincerely, Cho Chang-Potter._"  
  
Hermione collapsed into a chair with a sigh. So much for wishful thinking. It would be the better part of the allotted week before she would hear from Harry, taking into account the age of his beloved owl and his tendency to put things off, especially unpleasant things.   
  
She put the letter on her desk and scratched out a brief thank-you note for Cho before sending Finwig back out into the cold, much to the little owl's dismay. Then she crept back to bed and tried to make good use of the last few hours of sleep she could get. And this time, she dreamed.  
  
  
It was the long, dark passageway again. Her feet, no longer heeding her will, carried her relentlessly forward, toward the pale and unwholesome light at the end of the tunnel. The footsteps following her were quiet and few in number, almost like ghosts or memories that had floated from a Pensieve, soon to go to nothingness. She was all but alone this time.  
  
"Someone ... someone will be waiting this time too." she thought miserably, but no one impeded her progress through the corridor's exit and into the courtroom. But she paused nonetheless.  
  
A chair with restraints ... and someone restrained therein. He was sitting still, motionless, with his head hanging down, framed by soft, lustrous locks of jet black hair that stood out in relief against his pale skin. Another figured, robed and hooded, not a Death Eater, perhaps a prosecuting attorney or perhaps something else, came into view.  
  
"He will not answer! Sentence him now!" the figured cried out, looking up into the galleries. They were packed with hundreds of scowling, nameless witches and wizards.  
  
"Wait!" she heard herself cry out, rushing forward.  
  
She walked to the chair and lifted the chin of its prisoner. His skin was cold. His body, lifeless. She could hear herself let out a bloodcurdling scream of anguish that echoed through the courtroom.  
  
  
Her stomach lurched as she bolted upright in bed. She rushed to the bathroom and threw up loudly and painfully, sinking to the cold floor when she had finished. Her throat was raw, but as the images of her dream lingered, Hermione found herself wanting to scream again. Not that it would have helped. She couldn't imagine anything that would, other than perhaps using a dreamless sleep potion until this matter was attended to.  
  
There was nothing else to be done, she decided, but to get cleaned up and go to the office.  
  
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A/N: Question of the day: It's unethical for a lawyer to get romantically involved with her client. Am I right about this? Because I think Hermione would always do the ethical thing (Gyrffindor mind set, right?).  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, mandy, linnetjo, EireVerde, cloudshape, Girly_Vamp, and Jenni!  
On the topic of squeamishness (see reviews), I don't think Hermione was _ that_ disturbed by what she saw. I tried to write somewhere toward the middle between disturbed/ squeamish and callous. I didn't think Hermione should be either.   
Sorry this chapter isn't quite as long.  
  
  



	6. In which Hermione talks to an old friend

Chapter Six  
  
In which Hermione talks to an old friend  
  
  
The day passed slowly as Hermione worked through everything she had learned from the reports, Severus, and the journey through the Pensieve. He did not return for further questioning. What else did they have to say to one another about the case? There were probably other things about other incidents Severus could have told her, but the death, the murder, that was the big one. That was the one that would condemn him to a life lived out in Azkaban under the watchful eyes of the dementors. Hermione shivered every time she thought about it.  
  
Around noon a knock came to her door. It was too quiet, too polite to be Severus, unless, of course, one interpreted the knock as sounding guilty ... But then again, it was only a knock.  
  
The door opened slightly without invitation, annoying her ever-so-slightly, until a head of neatly combed red hair appeared.  
  
"Ron!" she laughed.  
  
"Hermione." he acknowledged, feeling free to open the door all the way and step inside. He looked rather like his brother Percy, she thought, in his official robes and suit and tie, the attire of an Auror between assignments.  
  
"I am glad to see you! I was beginning to wonder."  
  
"Can't be helped, 'Mione." he said, falling into the pattern of speech from his school days. He pulled a letter from a pocket and shook it at her. "Of all the things to read on the day after proposing to my girlfriend, this one takes the whole blinking cake." he told her.  
  
"You finally did it, Ron?" she asked, grinning with delight.  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
"And? And?"  
  
"Come next April, I'll be a married man." he said with an enormous grin. "I've never been so happy."  
  
"Congratulations, Ron! I am so happy for you."  
  
"Go on! You know you're jealous." he joked.  
  
"Maybe a little." she said, thinking momentarily of the kiss from the night before, but trying not to feel even the least bit envious of her friend's happiness.  
  
"Enough of that! We have business to attend to. What's this I read about you defending Snape?" he questioned, growing somber.  
  
"It's true. I am defending him, and I need some help."  
  
"I thought about throwing a party when I heard the ugly blighter might go to Azkaban. I don't think I'm the person ..."  
  
"Ronald Weasley! After everything he did for us? After saving Harry on more than one occasion? And you would still toss him to the dementors?"  
  
"I don't know ... I know the story as well as anyone else. I know he was valuable to our side, or so everyone says, but does that entitle the man to a free ticket? I've heard some pretty horrible stuff about his Death Eater days." said Ron, looking uncomfortable, not to mention just a little guilty.  
  
"So that's that then?"  
  
"I didn't say that. If it means so much to you, I can prepare a statement or something regarding my opinion of his loyalty. But for my money, Hermione, you will need Albus Dumbledore to testify on his behalf, or the greasy git is through."  
  
"And have you heard anything about our former headmaster or his whereabouts?" she questioned.  
  
"To tell the truth, no, I haven't. Not a peep. And I just spoke to Interim-Headmaster Flitwick a few days ago."  
  
"I sent him an owl the same night I sent yours ..."  
  
"And if he gets it, Dumbledore will be here before you even know it. I don't think he would let Snape down."  
  
"I hope you're right."  
  
"You did contact Harry too, right?"  
  
"Naturally. But he may not arrive in time for the inquiry."  
  
"Yeah, he's in Ireland. But he wouldn't miss the trial. Harry may not like Snape anymore than I do, but he wouldn't let Snape go to Azkaban just for being a miserable bastard."  
  
"I'm counting on that." said Hermione, who was quite accustomed to Ron's opinion of their former professor.  
  
  
The days seemed to race by at a horrible speed while Hermione prepared for the inquiry, and perpared her defense for the trial, which was very nearly a certainty. She hoped that Severus, who had not contacted her for several days, was preparing himself as well. She wanted to get in touch with him, send him an owl asking if he was okay, but she didn't know exactly what to say to him, not after they had both laid their feelings bare and duty had forced her to walk away. What could she say after that?  
  
And still there was no word from Harry or Professor Dumbledore. That troubled her too. If they appeared at the inquiry, made statements on Severus's behalf, then possibly there would not be a trial. Without them the future looked utterly hopeless. The only man for whom she had had feelings, well at least since Viktor Krum, would be thrown to the dementors, shut away in Azkaban forever. The thought tortured her.  
  
Every night she took a sleeping potion and awoke in the morning slightly groggy after a night spent in dreamless slumber. She had prepared the potion herself, although she did admit that if she had asked Severus to make one, she might have felt a good deal more like herself when she woke up. Nevertheless, it sufficed.  
  
Then the day before the inquiry came, and she could not put it off any longer. She had to have another discussion with Severus, no matter how awkward or painful. And besides, she did have some good news for him ...  
  
  
It was a Sunday and the offices were mostly empty. Ron had sent over a copy of the statement he had prepared attesting to the fact that Snape had proved invaluable in the fight against Voldemort. She was reading this when there was a knock at the door. She rolled up the document and bade her visitor to enter.  
  
Severus looked grim and tired when he entered, dressed in green and black, his house colors. Hermione stifled a laugh, noticing how tight the shirt was across his chest. It was obviously leftover from his school days. The effect was at least somewhat charming.  
  
"What?" he asked, taking a seat.  
  
"Feeling a bit nostalgic were we?"  
  
"I don't know what you mean."  
  
"The clothes. I know that has to be leftover from your sixth or seventh year at Hogwarts. All you need are the robes and a prefect's badge." she told him, pointing at the shirt.  
  
"And it all still fits." he said, tugging the shirt down slightly.  
  
"It looks good on you." said Hermione.  
  
"You said you had some good news." he said, brushing off her compliment.  
  
"They won't be using Veritaserum for the inquiry. I just found out the day before yesterday. They seem to think that going to trial is a sure thing."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Ron Weasley will be speaking on your behalf. I have his statement already."  
  
"Should that make me nervous?"  
  
"It looks good. Of course, something from Harry would be much better, but I haven't heard back from him yet ... or Professor Dumbledore."  
  
"If the a trial is certain ... then they still have time. I may not know where Albus is, but I know he's still watching over ... watching out for those who were faithful. Whatever he chooses to do, he won't disappoint us." said Severus, sensing her uncertainty.  
  
"Of course." she said, forcing a smile.  
  
"Will there be anything else, Hermione?" he asked.  
  
"About the other night ..." she began.  
  
"The timing was a bit off."  
  
"Yes."  
  
He was silent for a long time before he said, "Isn't it always? Maybe if things end well ..."  
  
She smiled and nodded, "Absolutely."  
  
Severus smiled at her, a soft and genuine smile though his dark eyes remained filled with sadness, and left his chair.  
  
"I just may hold you to that."  
  
"I will see you tomorrow then. Bright and early." she said with a firm nod as he turned to go.  
  
"Yes, bright and early." he affirmed absently.  
  
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A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter: linnetjo, Autumnmist, fizzysoda, Redone, ress, and mym2000.  
  
And I especially want to thank the reviewers who helped to answer my ethics question. I know abyssimally little about the law and legal processes (why I wanted to write about something dealing with those subjects is ... unknown). But I feel obligated to issue that warning from time to time.  
  
  
  
  



	7. In which Hermione prepares for the Inqui...

Chapter Seven  
  
In which Hermione prepares for the Inquiry  
  
  
That night Hermione could not afford to take her potion. She would need her wits about her for the inquiry, though she would be doing little more than perhaps objecting to biased or unfair questions and introducing those making statements on behalf of her client, or rather, Ron Weasley, who was the only person she had found to do so. As legal counsel for the defendant she could not make a statement herself. So that night she went to bed without her dreamless sleep potion and hoped that her dreams would be not be too unpleasant ...  
  
  
She was there again, in the corridor leading to the courtroom. This time she was almost certain that she was alone before she even neared the exit of the horrible, dark tunnel. And she could feel herself running. Was she late? Was she too late? Hermione could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her feet hitting the hard stone floor as she dashed toward the grayish light.  
  
She skidded to a halt when the chair and its occupant came into view. She could hear an unpleasant murmuring in the galleries above her. Disapproval rained down upon her. She didn't look up. She didn't want to, didn't need to. She could only look at him, the man with black hair and alabaster skin, slumped in the chair, motionless and silent, but somehow beautiful and serene.   
  
Her feet, and her heart, forced her to move toward him, though she feared what she would find.  
  
A heavily robed and hooded figure appeared between them. It gestured for her to stop, and she obeyed involuntarily. Her will was suddenly sapped. The figure turned, and she watched as it lifted Severus's chin, much as she had done in an earlier dream, and leaned down toward him.  
  
"No!" she cried out weakly as the dementor gave him its kiss.  
  
  
Hermione awoke in a cold sweat, but managed not to scream. She rubbed her eyes and waited for her breathing to slow before looking at the clock on her night stand. A magical clock, it said simply, 'half an hour until you must get up, Hermione.' She crawled out of bed and glanced out the window. It was overcast and abysmal looking outside. She could almost tell that it was going to rain.  
  
"Bright and early indeed." she growled, making her way to the bath where she splashed some cold water on her face. "Rubbish." she told her reflection, thinking of the dream. "Nothing more than that."  
  
Hermione spent the rest of the early morning hours, those quiet hours of sunrise and solitude, getting ready to face the event she had been dreading for the better part of the week. She put on her trial robes, black affairs that reminded her of her Hogwarts students' robes only heavier and a bit tighter around the throat, and glanced at herself in the mirror.  
  
"I dare say I look like the very grim reaper." she sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.  
  
"I'll say." said a familiar voice behind her.  
  
Hermione felt for a moment as though her heart was going to explode from joy as she turned to see Harry Potter settling into one of her more comfortable chairs.  
  
"What on earth! Harry! I had almost given up on you arriving in time." she laughed, forgetting her hair and rushing to greet him.  
  
He rose and gave her a bone crushing hug before pulling her into the chair with him.  
  
"Hedwig had a devil of a time finding me, but that bird never gives up on anything, ever. And I had a hard time believing the message, until I got a follow-up from Cho, insisting that I return to London. I just arrived last night. Had a lovely flight, though it is getting deucedly cold." he explained to her.  
  
"But, Harry, if you're going to speak at the inquiry ... we must get you down to the Ministry! There's so much ..." she began to say.  
  
"I know. That's why I dragged Percy, Fred, and Ron out of bed last night. We got that all taken care of. Promise. I haven't had a wink of sleep yet, you know."  
  
Hermione relaxed and smiled as she said, "I knew I could depend on you, Harry."  
  
"Yeah? Then why'd you look so surprised when I apparated in, hmmm?" he questioned.  
  
"You usually knock."  
  
"I wanted it to be a surprise."  
  
"Ah ha!" she chuckled.  
  
"Point taken. Now when are you going to explain to me just how you got into this pickle? I know you were a bit soft on the professor, but still ..." he shrugged, making a face.  
  
"I guess I'm still a bit. But when he asked, I just couldn't turn him down. I mean, Azkaban, Harry, even after all the good he did."  
  
"Like saving my life. I'll ... I'll never forget that as long as I live." said Harry, swallowing hard. "He must have taken seven or eight curses for me. It was ... Well, you know, after all."  
  
"Exactly." she nodded, patting his shoulder gently.  
  
"I guess we should be on our way. I hear the inquiry begins at eight o'clock sharp and it wouldn't do to be late."  
  
  
After Hermione collected her things, the pair apparated to the entrance of the great wizarding court. She glanced around before spotting Severus, who was waiting a discreet distance away. He was dressed more formally than when she had last seen him.  
  
"I told Ron that I'd meet him here. You might want a word with your client." said Harry.  
  
"Yes, of course." she said, walking over to join Severus.  
  
"I see that the famous Mister Potter has shown up. Maybe your faith in him was not so ill-placed as I had imagined." he said quietly.  
  
"He didn't come just to watch, you know. He is speaking on your behalf." she pointed out, reaching to straighten the collar of his robes. He caught her hand and held it for a moment.  
  
"I am relieved." he said, though his face gave no sign of it.  
  
"Are you ... afraid?" she asked almost in a whisper.  
  
"Transparent again, am I?"  
  
"I would be too. Just remember to keep your temper and keep your head. Don't elaborate anymore than you need to. Don't sound surly. They hate that. They absolutely hate it. And ... remember, you have me on your side and Harry and Ron." she told him, giving him some last minute advice.  
  
"That's a lot to remember."  
  
"You will manage."  
  
Hermione watched his eyes drifted over her shoulder and turned to see Ron and Harry watching them.  
  
"They're waiting." said Severus.  
  
"Let's go then." she said before walking to join her friends.  
  
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A/N: Question of the day: Isn't everyone glad to see Harry? What is a Harry Potter story without Harry?  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, Lyansidde, Talon DragonFriend, Kiwi, linnetjo, EireVerde, Arinya, Jenni, and spud snape! You are all so encouraging and nice! It's unbelievable.  
  
There was a question about the dementors (kind of). If they don't have eyes, how do they see? And it was just an expression, one that maybe I need to reconsider. But, thanks for pointing that out, Kiwi!  
  



	8. In which Severus answers some questions

Chapter Eight  
  
In which Severus answers some questions  
  
  
The corridor was narrower than the one of which she had dreamed and better lit as well. She still shivered as she walked down it with Severus at her side and Ron and Harry just behind them talking quietly of less important things.  
  
"The class reunion's next summer. You going, Harry?" asked Ron.  
  
"I don't know ..." shrugged Harry.  
  
"You've got to be there! It wouldn't be right if you weren't." Ron objected.  
  
"Hermione, you going?" asked Harry, deflecting the question.  
  
"I don't think so. Less than half our house will be there ..." she replied quietly.  
  
"Not to mention only about one in three of our professors." nodded Harry.  
  
"I never looked at it that way." said Ron with a heavy sigh.  
  
Severus cautiously squeezed Hermione's shoulder. His house, both in his school days and in hers, had been likewise decimated, but most of them were for the other side. She gave him an encouraging smile. Harry watched them and felt his stomach sour slightly, but said nothing.  
  
"This shouldn't take more than hour, perhaps an hour and a half." she told Severus.  
  
"And their decision?"  
  
"Will be immediate."  
  
"We could have brunch afterwards then." Severus suggested in an attempt at humor, a slight tremble in his voice betraying his anxiety.  
  
"All four of us?"  
  
Severus glanced at the two grown-up Gryffindors and shrugged, "Why not?"  
  
It was Ron's turn to feel a little sick at the thought.  
  
  
Their paths diverged once they reached the end of the long hallway. Severus was guided one way while Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked up the stairs and into the section of the upper galleries reserved for judges, counsel, witnesses, and others of such positions, including legal aides and persons of power. Hermione glanced at the number of people making statements for the prosecution and felt suddenly inadequate. She recognized Mad-Eye Moody and Sirius Black, but there were a few unfamiliar Aurors and several former Slytherin students of various ages among them as well. It was certainly a crowd compared to her two companions.  
  
"This looks bad." whispered Ron.  
  
"If only Dumbledore were here," murmured Harry, "he could set them straight just like he did the first time."  
  
Hermione looked at Harry and realized that he was genuinely angry about the miscarriage of justice going on right before their eyes. He wasn't just there because he was her friend. He was there because he considered the matter of Snape's past closed. She was more grateful than ever.  
  
She glanced down into the court below where Severus was talking to one of the court wizards, who had taken the place of the dementors that once ensured the good behavior of those brought to judgment. The wizard shook his head and gestured for Severus to have a seat. He did so without another word. Hermione gasped aloud when the restraints wound themselves around his arms, binding him fast to the chair. His hands clenched, but he did not struggle. There was a proud and angry look in his eyes that was slow to fade. The restraints around his wrists and arms seemed to twist tighter. His hands unclenched, and his face twisted into a grimace of pain.  
  
Hermione rose to her feet and turned toward the Ministry official, Arturo Blood, presiding over the inquisition, or rather, inquiry.  
  
"Mister Blood! That's quite enough! My client did come here, of his own will I might add, to be tortured for the entertainment of the Ministry. Please instruct the chair to cease and desist right now!" she yelled to the pasty, aging former Ravenclaw a few benches away.  
  
He glared at her, but gestured to the court wizard to have the tightening stop before bringing the court to order.  
  
Blood began with a few questions, obviously prepared by the Ministry's team of lawyers due to their shrewd nature.  
  
"Were you involved in the deaths of Aurors Jonathan Ames and Cecil Tibbs?"  
  
"I was there." Severus admitted.  
  
"Did you kill them?"  
  
"No." he replied, looking at Hermione in the gallery.  
  
"Did you cast any spells on them?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Which ones?"  
  
"A disarming spell."  
  
"I see." said Blood, waiting for him to say more.  
  
"They were hurting my friends." Snape added, unable to remain silent, unable to follow his counsel's advice.  
  
"Names."  
  
"Malfoy and Lestrange."  
  
"Death Eaters then."  
  
"I would have acted no differently had they been anything or anyone else."  
  
That reply caused Blood to pause and shuffle his notes. He had not expected it. He was a calculating man who wrongly believed that he could instantly size up people, instantly know them, because of his keen intellect. Not surprisingly, he was often wrong.  
  
"Moving on then. Angelos Weatherall. What do you know of his death?"  
  
"I'm not familiar with that name."  
  
"He was a shopkeeper on Knockturn Alley and what was commonly referred to in less polite circles as a squib." said Blood.  
  
"I believe I know who you mean."  
  
"Did you murder him?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did you ... cast any curses on him, legal or otherwise?"  
  
"I ... No." said Severus, hesitating.  
  
"Reports have indicated that more than one person cast the unforgivable curse Avada Kedavra on him ... and our sources say that you were present. Care to reconsider your answer?"  
  
"I did not cast the spell."  
  
"No matter. We have evidence on the incident that is more than sufficient." said Blood. "We will undoubtedly have more specific questions for you at a later time, Mister Snape." he added.  
  
  
The morning dragged on as statement after statement was presented by the prosecution, some more damning than others. Sirius, who had been acquitted only four and a half years earlier, spoke of Snape's thirst for revenge and his cooperation with the dementors. Moody dredged up obscure unsolved cases where potions were used, not to mention cases of extreme torture where Snape was implicated as either involved or complicit. There were even veiled hints that Moody believed that Snape drank the blood of good wizards. Two Aurors testified concerning two muggle hikers, also an unsolved case, using circumstantial evidence to make their claims. And some of Snape's own former students testified that they had seen him going and coming from midnight rendezvous with Voldemort.  
  
When they were finished, Hermione called upon Harry to speak for Snape, and the courtroom grew strangely quiet as The-Boy-Who-Lived rose to his feet. Hermione watched him glance at his godfather with a wounded expression on his face. Sirius had the decency to duck his head uncomfortably.  
  
"He saved my life. Severus Snape saved my life on more than one occasion. He was never my friend. But he still chose to do what was right, what all of us believe in our hearts to be good and decent. He risked his life for mine. What more can any man do for another? I've sat here listening to all of these people who hate him run him down, and maybe I have agreed with some of them. He's not very likable. He's damn near the most secretive and creepy person I have ever known. But he isn't one of _them_. He isn't a Death Eater anymore. I understand that all of you want to see everyone who aided Voldemort in any way punished and punished severely. I was glad to see Lucius Malfoy dragged out of here in chains three years ago. I was glad to see the whole lot trotted off to Azkaban. But if that's what happens to Severus Snape, a great injustice will be done. Because you won't be punishing the Death Eater, you'll be punishing the man who saved my life, maybe all our lives, from Voldemort. This wasn't the statement I had prepared. I didn't come here planning to say any of that. But ... it's what I believe had to be said." Harry told them before sitting back down.  
  
"My God, Harry, you'd make a better lawyer than me!" Hermione whispered in his ear.  
  
There was little applause for the brave words from The-Boy-Who-Lived, only a vague murmuring that was quickly silenced by Blood.  
  
"There will be order in this court!" he said in a loud voice.  
  
When everyone had settled down again, Ron Weasley stood and said his piece, but his words were not nearly so powerful as those Harry Potter spoke. Hermione looked down at Severus while Ron spoke and saw tears on his face that he could not wipe away. The things that Harry had said, not all of them complimentary, had moved the former potions' master more than she, or he, would have expected. Their eyes met for a moment. His coal black eyes no longer seemed so sad, so hopeless. The look in them was a very determined one.  
  
After Ron finished making his statement, which involved a good deal more facts than feeling, he sat down, and everyone turned their attention to Arturo Blood.  
  
Hermione first had an inkling that the inquiry had been a sham, a mere formality, when he coolly glanced at his notes and looked out at Snape.  
  
"I see no need for further questions. It is all too clear that a trial is in order here." said Blood. "The trial will be held one week from this date. Until that time Severus Snape is to be held in the wizards' prison of Azkaban."  
  
"Wait!" cried Harry and Hermione, coming to their feet. Ron rose with them, looking angry, but not giving voice to that anger.  
  
Blood turned and looked at them as two wizards approached Severus, prepared to take him from the chair and directly to Azkaban.  
  
"If it pleases the court, I would like to request that Mister Snape be remanded into my custody for that duration." said Hermione.  
  
"He may be a dangerous criminal." said Blood doubtfully.  
  
"I am willing to vouch for him, sir. As an Auror I believe I can safely say that Snape is not a danger to the community or Herm ... the counsel for the defense." said Ron hastily.  
  
"And I will too, sir, if my word means anything." said Harry.  
  
Blood, knowing how well beloved all three of the young wizards and witch were in the wizarding community at large, hesitated to refuse.  
  
"He doesn't even have a wand." Hermione pointed out.  
  
"Very well. I will remand him into your custody, Miss Granger. See that he returns to this place in a week's time for trial." said Blood.  
  
There were no words for the relief she saw on Snape's face as the chair released him and he climbed shakily to his feet.  
  
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A/N: As always, I am very grateful to all who reviewed: Khads, Taryn, cloudshape, fizzysoda, linnetjo, EireVerde, ress, dinky, Arinya, Kiwi, and Jenni! Thanks!  
  
  
  



	9. In which everyone does some reminiscing

Chapter Nine  
  
In which everyone does some reminiscing  
  
  
"That was close." said Harry, shaking his head as the quartet walked down the street together following the inquiry.  
  
"You don't have to tell me that. I thought they were going to apparate out of there with me, chair and all. For a moment I imagined sitting ... still in that chair ... in a cell in Azkaban for all eternity." said Severus.  
  
Hermione put a still trembling hand on his back. She wanted to hold him, to reassure him and to reassure herself that he was still there with her. She would be forever indebted to Ron and Harry for rising to the occasion and saving Snape. She was almost positive that Ron was having some second thoughts. Severus, on the other hand, was understandably shook up. He skin had turned a sickly, almost ashen hue.  
  
"We're still going to brunch, right?" asked Ron.  
  
"My God, Ron, how can you eat at a time like this?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Well, Harry and I haven't eaten since yesterday and I bet you haven't either. And now that I think about it, the professor, excuse me, the former professor, looks in need of feeding too." answered Ron.  
  
"I swear! You're becoming more and more like your mother with every passing year." said Hermione.  
  
  
The four of them found their way to a restaurant just as it began to rain. If anyone had told Hermione in her younger days that she would one day be having brunch in a London restaurant with Harry, Ron, and Severus Snape, she would have found it hard to believe at best. But as she glanced around the table at the three unhappy looking men, she had to accept it as fact.   
  
The boys were both having a cup of hot tea to drink, Hermione had managed to get a cup of hot chocolate for her nerves, and Snape, ignoring the time of day, had a glass of wine, which he kept swishing pensively while they waited on their food.  
  
"I think I'm going to take some time off from the team. We won't have another game for six weeks ... I can search for Professor Dumbledore for a week and no one would even notice." offered Harry.  
  
"I sent an owl. If it can't find him ..." said Hermione, shaking her head.  
  
"I never hurts to look. I mean, my owls never came back with messages, but they never had the letter either. That tells me that the headmaster is still out there somewhere. Maybe he just wants one of us to come and find him or something." said Harry.  
  
"Albus was always a bit of a mystery." said Severus. The three former students looked at him expectantly. "He always knew things about the students, about pranks and other things, that no one could have known. It was uncanny. And he always took a liking to the strangest students. It was like he knew which ones of us were teetering on the edge and which ones of us had nothing good in our lives. He knew who needed a little more guidance and tried to give it to us, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. The headmaster had a special, unique insight into people and situations that I still cannot fully explain. He could look at the world as a chess board, and yet with compassion and kindly wisdom at the same time. He could see it all. That's why they're having such a hard time replacing him." he told them.  
  
"That and all deaths ... There simply aren't that many qualified wizards of his stature anymore." said Harry in agreement.  
  
Hermione chuckled miserably. Harry was so right! McGonagall and Hooch were dead. Lupin was a werewolf, and no one would let him forget it. Trelawney was a flake. Binns was a ghost and close to retirement. Sprout didn't seem interested or capable. Flitwick was just barely holding the school together. Many other professors were just starting their careers, like Ginny and Neville. And then there was Severus with his marked arm and the recent business.  
  
"Too right." said Severus with a cough.  
  
When their meal arrived they ate in silence. The weight of the coming weeks was already heavy upon them.  
  
"I'm still going." said Harry as they finished up.  
  
"Fine." said Hermione. "I appreciate it." she added.  
  
"I know." he laughed.  
  
Hermione glanced at Severus and said, "I had better get back to my office. It seems as though I may have some work to do."  
  
  
Her office was not far from the court, and Severus followed Hermione back to it without a word. It was like an unspoken invitation, because had he not followed, she would have asked him to do so. After the uncomfortable days apart and the drama in the courtroom, she wanted someone to stay with her, to anchor her, to fill her with strength of purpose. And who better?  
  
She sat down behind her desk and began emptying her satchel of everything, a large quantity of unnecessary scrolls and scraps of paper. Severus sank into the chair directly in front of her and watched as she sifted through the contents of her bag. He rubbed his arms absently.  
  
"It hurt, didn't it?" she questioned, not looking up.  
  
"I was caught by surprise. I didn't think they would resort to something so childish. It was plain to see that I was at their mercy without tightening the wench to make me squirm."  
  
"It was your hands."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Your fists. They thought you were daring them, defying them. Still, it didn't give them license." she said, shaking her head. He watched a few curls fly loose and smiled.  
  
"Your voice ... comforted me again, when you shouted at Blood."  
  
"Funny, I thought I sounded a bit shrill. The situation gave me something of a turn."  
  
"And Potter ... Harry ... He has grown into someone very different that I believed he would. Strong, confident, and ... just. Or is it merciful? Not arrogant or selfish, as I once believed him to be. I never truly thought _he_ would rally to _my_ defense."  
  
"He speaks his mind."  
  
"I am exceedingly grateful. Please, tell him that for me when next you see him."  
  
"You can tell him yourself, Severus." she said, looking up sharply.  
  
"If you say so ..."  
  
A knock at the door interrupted before Hermione could defend her skill as an attorney, among other things. Her hand wandered toward her wand.  
  
"Don't be paranoid, Hermione. If they were coming for my head, they would hardly knock." said Severus. "Besides, it sounds like Lupin." he added.  
  
"Come in." she called.  
  
The door opened to reveal Remus Lupin, dressed in formal robes that looked a bit worn and untidy. He could afford better certainly, but it was simply his way. Hermione guessed that he had been in the courtroom, watching the inquiry and possibly waiting for Sirius.  
  
"That's damn uncanny." Hermione thought, glancing at Severus. How had he known?  
  
"Hermione." he said, greeting her with a soft, hesitant smile. His eyes wandered to Snape in the chair. "Severus, I thought I might find you here."  
  
"Lupin, come to gloat? Your _friend_ did a nice job painting me as a maniac this morning." said Severus sourly.  
  
"Not at all. After what Harry said ... I have decided to lend you both my support. If Harry believes you're worthy of living, then I suppose I can say so too." said Remus, rarely put off by Severus's demeanor.  
  
"That is so kind of you." said Severus.  
  
"Don't thank me, Severus. I'm not doing this for you, after all. I'm doing it because of Harry, Hermione, and the things I know." said Remus.  
  
"Then I'll thank you." said Hermione. "You must know that we need every bit of support that comes our way."  
  
"Not that the word of a werewolf is worth that much." he shrugged. "But you've got it." Turning to Severus he added, "But I still wish I knew if you had a hand in James and Lily's deaths."  
  
Severus rose swiftly to his feet and faced the werewolf, telling him, "I will have you know that I was definitely on our side by then. I was with Dumbledore that very night. When Hagrid brought young Harry in ..." Severus paused mid sentence and shook his head. "What's the use? You'll never believe me."  
  
"No, go on. I'm intrigued. When Hagrid brought young Harry in ..." said Remus, crossing his arms and staring Snape down.  
  
Hermione merely listened, fascinated as well.  
  
"It was just for a little while ... while the decisions were being made about the boy's future. Albus had me hold the squirming boy while he went to talk to some Ministry officials about Potter's muggle relatives and so forth. Wouldn't stop crying. Not even after I put some salve on that scar that Voldemort had given him. I sat in Dumbledore's office for an hour or so with the screaming infant until Hagrid came and took him away on that flying contraption again."  
  
"Someday I hope to question Albus Dumbledore about that. It's one of the tallest tales I have ever heard, unless it is by some chance true." said Remus.  
  
"I would dearly love for you to have that opportunity." said Severus, glancing at Hermione. "But not a word of it to Harry." he told them both, although primarily her.  
  
"So pax then, for now at least?" questioned Lupin, holding out his hand.  
  
"Pax? Were we at war then?" asked Snape with a bit of a sneer.  
  
"Whatever, Severus."  
  
Severus hesitated before shaking hands with the werewolf.  
  
"Thanks." he managed.  
  
Remus just nodded and looked at the amount of paperwork on Hermione's desk and said, "I should leave you to it then. Send me an owl if you need me."  
  
"We will." said Hermione as he turned to go. When the door had closed behind him, Hermione asked, "So you held Harry as a baby?" The amusement was apparent in her eyes.  
  
"Someone had to. Minerva was still at the scene of the crime ... She had known Lily and James very well being their head of house and all. Madam Pomfrey was attending to some injured Aurors, if I remember correctly. Albus was discussing Voldemort's disappearance with Ministry officials, among other things. Professor Krohn, my predecessor, not to mention the other available heads of houses, were keeping the students quiet and calm. The supposed defeat of Voldemort was a big deal when it happened. Hagrid was running errands for a bit or perhaps finding petrol or some other nonsense for the motorbike ... Who else would have taken care of him? A prefect? The Head Girl? Who then?" asked Severus, sinking into his seat again as he spoke. "For a couple of hours the child was lost in the shuffle. I had no special love of the boy, of Harry, but someone had to be responsible during those few hours and it was unfortunately me."  
  
"I just never realized ..."  
  
"Of course not. I never told anyone, and Albus respected that, even if he did kid me from time to time." said Severus, smiling at last.  
  
"I wish there was some way we could use that in your defense." Hermione teased him.  
  
"The consummate professional!" he laughed, though his eyes remained troubled.  
  
"Right. Now back to work ..."  
  
  
Hermione and Severus left the offices at the end of the day together. Everything was beginning to come together at last. Her hopes were rising again, although she made every effort not to think about the future and only about the work. She yawned quietly as they walked side by side toward the area of wizarding London where they both lived.  
  
"Do you still make potions now that you aren't at Hogwarts anymore?" Hermione asked him.  
  
"Of course, but not as much as I like." he answered.  
  
"My dreamless sleep potion leaves me just a bit groggy in the morning. Could I trouble you to brew one or give me some pointers perhaps?" she asked.  
  
"Having nightmares are we?" he questioned.  
  
Hermione just shrugged, "A few, I suppose."  
  
"It's hardly a secret. No one asks for such potions to drive away erotic dreams or those of one's childhood home and happy summer days. Do you mind sharing?"  
  
"It isn't a comfortable subject."  
  
"I would imagine not, but still ..."  
  
"Fine. I've been dreaming about your trial." she admitted.  
  
Severus glanced into a nearby darkened alleyway and pulled her into it. Hermione permitted it.  
  
"How bad have the dreams been?" he asked Hermione as she leaned against the wall behind her and looked up him. He was still several inches taller than she was, and his concerned face was framed by the light of a street lamp.  
  
"The courtroom and ... Sirius Black, that awful chair ... a dementor ... kissing you ... you, dead." she said, unable to articulate what she had seen.  
  
"Not unlike my own dreams." he chuckled, touching her hair. "If I'm brewing one potion, I might as well brew another."  
  
"I would appreciate it." she said.  
  
"Well, come along then. I will need most of the evening." he said, moving away from her.  
  
"Right." she nodded, following him out of the alley.  
  
  
They parted company at the front stoop of her apartment building, deciding that it was best if she continued her work and he went about his business alone. As she desperately tried to work on her argument, not to mention a list of potential witnesses, her mind kept flashing back to the alley and Severus's hand touching her hair tenderly, almost reverently. She shivered. She could not understand the intensity of what she felt for him. Could sharing memories, bad memories at that, really bring two people closer together?  
  
"Maybe." she conceded, returning her mind to more important things.  
  
It was late into the night when Hermione finally had to admit that the eye strain was getting to her and prepared for bed. Somehow, Severus and the potion he was brewing for her slipped her mind. Until she had put on a night gown and there was an oh-so-familiar knock at her door. Throwing on a bathrobe, she dashed to answer it.  
  
As Severus looked at her robe and wild hair, a smile graced his lips for a moment. He held up a small bottle of purple liquid, the potion that would quiet her nightmares. She noted that it was a few shades lighter in color than the potion she had made. It was an art, she was forced to admit, as she gratefully accepted the bottle.  
  
"You brought it yourself?"  
  
"I couldn't trust something so delicate to an owl." he explained.  
  
"Do you want to come inside?"  
  
"No ... you need your rest ... and it would be unwise."  
  
"Perhaps." she agreed.  
  
"I should be on my way." he said hesitantly.  
  
"Until tomorrow then."  
  
"Yes." Severus nodded.   
  
Then he leaned down and softly kissed her forehead. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment as tears clouded them. When she opened them again, he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the hall outside as he departed. Part of her longed to call after to him, to bid him to come back, but she bit her lower lip and closed the door instead, thankful for the potion and the kiss.  
  
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A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, linnetjo, EireVerde, animegirl-mika, Christine, DrusillaDrake, dinky, cloudshape, and Jenni. You are all so incredibly nice!  
  
I chose the name 'Blood' for the Ministry official in the previous chapter because I saw the name at work (bill processing) and thought it was cool, and sort of Harry Potter-ish.  
  
And for the record, I'm not a fan of Sirius Black.  
  



	10. In which they all prepare for the Trial

Chapter Ten  
  
In which they all prepare for the Trial  
  
  
Hermione and Severus spent their days quietly holed up in her office. She worked with a tireless fervor that both amazed and touched him while he provided her with names and details as she needed them. From time to time Ron Weasley joined them, letting them know how Harry was getting on in his quest to find Dumbledore, which was not very well, and doing a little research with Remus and Neville, who were digging through the Hogwarts library and archives during their free time in an effort to find something, anything that might aid Snape and Hermione. While their efforts as a show of solidarity were very cheering, the results were not. At Harry's behest Cho Chang-Potter was coordinating the messages being sent back and forth between London, Hogwarts, and wherever Harry happened to be. And Fleur Delacour, soon-to-be Weasley, at Beauxbatons was lending a hand as well. Again, the sentiments out-weighed the actual results.  
  
On the evening before the trial at the place on Diagon Alley where the pair usually parted ways, they lingered. Severus looked down at Hermione with a wistful expression on his face.  
  
"I suppose Dumbledore really isn't coming, is he?" questioned Severus.  
  
"Harry isn't giving up. He will be out there ... somewhere ... all night, looking, searching for any sign of the headmaster."  
  
"It would take a miracle."  
  
"You don't believe in them?"  
  
"It is too difficult." he replied.  
  
"You never know. Professor Dumbledore could apparate into the middle of the courtroom and give those ... those bloody stupid people the tongue lashing of a life time, offer us all lemon drops, and have the whole thing called off."  
  
"You aren't basing any part of my defense on that, are you?" he asked, his face brightening for a moment as he imagined the scene she described.  
  
"No ..." she answered.  
  
His face turned serious again as he said, "Let me ask you a question."  
  
"I've asked you enough of them. I suppose it's only fair that you get to ask one every once in a while."  
  
"When this is all over, for better or worse, will you ... will you feel the same way as you do now? Even if I am shut up in Azkaban or worse comes to worst." he questioned. His gaze was very piercing.  
  
"Forever and always, Severus, and I would never stop trying to get you an appeal." she replied, realizing then just how close they had grown in the space of two weeks.  
  
"I love you, Hermione."  
  
"I love you too, Severus."  
  
For an all-too-brief instant there was no trial, no Azkaban, no unhappiness in the world as he gently drew her into his arms. Hermione was warm and safe, and Severus was a different man that he had been. She wrapped her arms around him and savored those moments. But it could not last.  
  
"Bright and early?" he questioned as the troubles of the world cascaded down upon them again and he reluctantly released her.  
  
"Yes." she said, biting her lip to stop the tears.  
  
"We'll give them a run for their money."  
  
"Of course we will." she said before turning and walking away, no longer able to hold the tears back.  
  
  
The night was long, but dreamless for Hermione. When morning came no one disturbed her routine, though her hands trembled as she smoothed her robes and prepared to leave her apartment. They, those who had chosen to support Severus, had planned to meet at the entrance to the great court. They were few, supporting a cause noble and worthy. She clutched her satchel to her chest as she apparated. God forbid any of them should be late!  
  
Hermione had elected to apparate early, fearing that if Severus arrived first, he would be dragged away and chained, or perhaps worse. She smiled as she noted Remus Lupin and Cho Chang-Potter talking quietly over two mugs of coffee. It was very early in the morning and neither of the pair were morning people.  
  
"Hermione!" Cho yelled, passing her cup off to Lupin before jogging up and giving her a hug. "Are you nervous? Oh, you shouldn't be! You are very clever and Severus so deserves a second chance and all." said Cho, speaking way to fast. The cup of coffee in Remus's hand was obviously not her first.  
  
"I'm fine." said Hermione. "Honest."  
  
"Harry came in about two hours ago, in desperate need of a shower and a shave. Looked gruesome. But, empty handed, I'm afraid." Cho told her.  
  
Hermione tried not to look crestfallen, but she had so hoped ...  
  
"I'm grateful for the effort. Severus too. He covered a lot of territory."  
  
"All of the British Isles, Holland, France ... other places." nodded Cho, taking her cup back from Remus.  
  
"I would never have believed it." said the professor, shaking his head sadly.  
  
"Now we all know that Dumbledore didn't do this on purpose! The man is probably living in a cave somewhere or in a monastery, trying to get some peace. He is very old, and I know he saw much more, much worse things, than we did." said Cho.  
  
"No one is accusing anyone of anything." shrugged Remus, sipping his own 'coffee', which looked suspiciously like hot cocoa.  
  
A smile spread over Cho's face as two people apparated nearby. Hermione turned to Neville and Ginny Longbottom, two of Hogwarts' youngest professors. Neville still looked less intelligent than he really was, and his red-headed wife still reminded her of a little girl, even though she was expecting one herself. They had joined the fight only days before, but even Neville looked ready to do battle, for what that was worth.  
  
"You all right there, Gin?" her adoring husband questioned. Ginny had always been a nervous apparater.  
  
"I'm fine." she said.  
  
"I can't believe you two didn't bring a mug of something warm!" Cho chided. "I can't live without it."  
  
"Oh, we're used to getting up early." said Ginny.  
  
"Tell me about it!" groaned Neville in testament to his bride's morning sickness.  
  
"Any luck?" Ginny asked, her eyes darting from Hermione to Cho.  
  
The latter simply shook her head. There was no need to come out and say it again.  
  
"I hear it's going to snow soon." commented Remus as silence washed over them.  
  
"You don't say?" remarked Neville, shuffling his feet.  
  
Ron and Fleur apparated across the street a few minutes later and dashed across to greet their friends. Hermione managed a smile when she saw them, hand in hand, wizard and part veela. They were a handsome couple. No one would even have suspected that she was older than him.  
  
"Why ze long faces? Zis will be a vic-tor-y!" said Fleur, who had retained much of her accent, despite her long courtship with Ron.  
  
Hermione was grateful for her enthusiasm, but she could not reciprocate.  
  
"Where's Harry? Don't tell me he's still out there." Ron said, looking at Cho.  
  
"He will be here any minute." she said.  
  
Almost in answer to his wife's statement, Harry appeared a few yards away. His hair was still wet and messy from the shower he had taken.  
  
"About time!" laughed Ron.  
  
"Oh, dear!" said Cho, pulling out her wand and casting a spell on his hair before he could even say a word.  
  
"Better?" Harry chuckled. There were dark circles under his eyes.  
  
"Lots!" laughed Ginny.  
  
"That just leaves the star of the show." said Remus.  
  
"He'll be along." said Hermione.  
  
Harry stepped over and put a hand on her shoulder as he said, "Sorry I failed you, Hermione."  
  
"Oh, Harry, you didn't fail anyone! Least of all me. We knew it was a long shot." she said.  
  
Hermione looked up from the pavement just in time to see Severus round the corner. He was wearing formal black robes without any insignia, just plain robes, closed against the chill. She wished that he had worn something more colorful, something that wouldn't remind the judge and jury of the Death Eaters, but then, he looked so dashing in them that she couldn't say a thing.  
  
"What? Am I late?" Severus asked crossly, noticing all of them staring at him as he joined the group.  
  
"Not at all. We're just early." said Hermione.  
  
"It's going to start soon." said Remus, looking at his former students and Ron's fiancée. "Perhaps we had better find our places while Hermione and Severus have a chat, hmmm?" he suggested.  
  
"Quite right." agreed Harry.  
  
As they shuffled inside, Ginny Longbottom paused and asked Severus a quiet question that only Hermione overheard: "What was your mother's name, sir?"  
  
Severus's eyes drifted to her slightly protruding stomach and replied, "Donatella."  
  
Ginny nodded quietly and walked inside to join her husband.  
  
"You don't honestly think she would do it, do you?" Severus asked Hermione when the woman was out of earshot.  
  
Hermione shrugged and said, "It's Ginny, Severus. Who can say? But it was a sweet gesture."  
  
"Not necessarily one that inspires confidence though, is it?"  
  
"The three of them canceled classes to be here." she reminded him.  
  
"Their students must be ecstatic."  
  
"Severus, we should go in now." she told him.  
  
"No last minute advice?"  
  
"Not unless you have a counter agent to the Veritaserum."  
  
"No such substance. Let's go."  
  
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A/N: Question of the day: (And I'm hoping I'm right about this) Snape's parents' names are never mentioned in the books, are they?  
  
I want to thank all the people who reviewed the previous chapter, Dinky, Michelle, fizzysoda, cloudshape, ress, and Jenni.  
  
I am always pleased to see that there are Remus Lupin fans out there, being one myself.  
  
  



	11. In which Severus Snape is tried

Chapter Eleven  
  
In which Severus Snape is tried  
  
  
The entrance corridor was dark and empty. Everyone only awaited their arrival to begin. Hermione clutched her heavy satchel of notes and documents in one hand and laid the other upon Severus's arm. At least she was not walking alone. At least she knew where he was, for the moment, and that he was all right. Those small comforts meant so much to her.  
  
When they entered the courtroom, a legal aide from her office, a recent Hogwarts graduate wearing a Gryffindor pin, took her satchel for her as she led Severus to the chair in the center of the room. A court wizard was waiting there with a tiny pre-measured bottle of the Truth Potion known as Veritaserum. Hermione, not to mention Snape, could tell that it was a very strong dose of a very strong potion. The effects would be uncomfortable for Severus, to say the least, and very unpleasant to witness, Hermione realized.  
  
Severus sat down the chair and tried to relax as the restraints came alive and bound him fast. They did not twist or tighten unmercifully this time. Hermione saw vague relief in his eyes. He nodded that it was all right.  
  
Then the court wizard pressed the tiny, clear, sparkling bottle into her hands. She had nearly forgotten that it was her duty to administer the potion. She looked at it for a moment, hoping that ... no, dreading, that someone had changed bottles. There was no way to tell.  
  
"It's _okay_." he whispered as he watched the doubt creep into her eyes.  
  
Hermione stepped closer and gently put one hand behind his head as he opened his mouth. She placed the bottle at his lips and tipped the contents between them. He swallowed the bitter draught without flinching or complaint. Someone, the court wizard, she imagined, took the empty bottle from her hands as she stood over him, watching his pupils dilate and his eyes grow glassy. All cunning, all nobility was washed from his features in a matter of seconds, replaced by a blank expression. He began to perspire, a thin sheen of sweat coating his skin. Hermione wiped the sweat from his face with the sleeve of her robe, worried that the dose had been too high.  
  
She could hear murmuring and tittering laughter from the galleries. Though she herself had never laughed, she had murmured a snide comment to a friend on the day that Lucius Malfoy had been tried in similar fashion. He had been taken to the chair kicking and screaming. The draught was poured down his throat by a court-appointed attorney while he struggled, tearing his robes and cutting his hands on the restraints. She had called it cowardice, his Slytherin nature, then, and she knew that was what those voices above her were saying as she comforted Severus.  
  
"Oh, no." he moaned softly.  
  
Hermione looked down to see a dark patch forming on his robes, whether from fear or Veritaserum poisoning, she was not certain. She hushed him softly and said a cleaning and drying spell as quietly as possible. The din above her grew louder with laughter and ridicule. She smoothed his robes as she felt her face grow hot with anger.  
  
"Ms. Granger, if you're quite finished, we have a court to run here." said the loud and impatient voice of Arturo Blood from the gallery above and behind her.  
  
"Go." managed Severus, cutting off whatever harsh reply she was about to make.  
  
She stepped away from him, turned, and made her way up the stairs to her appointed bench. As she walked by them, Harry and Ron touched her hands. The expression on their faces said that they too were struck by the callousness of the proceedings.  
  
"Good luck, 'Mione." Ron whispered.  
  
  
The worst part of the opening statements for Hermione was looking down at Severus in the chair and watching him suffer. From time to time he would raise his head and look around, almost as though he didn't recognize his surroundings. His eyes were full of confusion and undisguised apprehension.  
  
The prosecuting attorney, an older wizard who did not sport the insignia of any school or house, came to his feet once order had been established and began speaking in a slightly accented voice. There was nothing particularly sinister about the man, but Hermione sensed there was something rather unwholesome about him, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She had worked under many attorneys in the Ministry during her time as a legal aide and as a co-counsel, but this man was a stranger to her.  
  
"Durmstrang. I hear he's a professor of law there." someone a few rows behind her whispered a bit too loudly.  
  
"Admitted to the English wizarding bar just a few months ago, right?" came a whispered question.  
  
"For the last of these horrid trials. Everyone else had lost the stomach for it."  
  
"And it is our duty to keep monsters such as this from our midst. It is not a pleasant duty. But it is our duty nonetheless to see that the guilty are punished, that the guilty do not go free to corrupt others and to engage in heinous acts right under our noses. That duty is what has brought all of us here today." said the prosecutor, finishing his statement.  
  
When the professor from Durmstrang returned to his seat, Hermione left hers, holding a draft of her prepared opening statement in her hands, which would not stop shaking.  
  
"Monster, indeed. One might find that characterization of my client slanderous." she commented. "But we have more weighty matters before us, do we not?" she questioned rhetorically before beginning her statement.  
  
Hermione made it through her opening statement without faltering, without hesitation, though Blood and much of the jury looked unmoved when she had finished. Ginny, Ron, and Fleur, however, applauded, earning a steely look from Blood and a few of the court wizards. Hermione could almost feel the color draining from her face and hands as she returned to her seat and she allowed her eyes to rest on Severus again. His expression was still blank, but he was looking up at her as though she were the only person in the crowded room.  
  
"Professor Zlotnikov, would the prosecution please call the first witness." instructed Blood.  
  
"Of course." said the legal expert from Durmstrang. "The prosecution waives its right to examine all those who testified at the previous inquiry and moves that their statements be resubmitted without further questioning on the part of the prosecution." said Zlotnikov.  
  
"Why that arrogant bastard!" fumed Hermione silently, practically leaping to her feet.  
  
"The counsel for the defense may, of course, cross examine them at her leisure." added Zlotnikov with a smirk.  
  
Hermione paused and reigned in her rising temper. What good would it do them to cross examine Sirius Black or Mad-Eye Moody or the rest. They were dead set against Snape walking free and would probably do anything to hurt his chances. It might be for the best not to allow them to give voice to their hostilities a second time, especially since there was little that she could do to prove that they had it in for Severus or to challenge their statements. As the record stood, the two sides were about even as far as the weight of those statements went. Harry and Ron had said enough to cast doubt on Black and Moody's bitter words and only partially founded accusations.  
  
"Well, Ms. Granger?" asked Blood.  
  
"The defense waives the right to cross examine those witnesses." she replied.  
  
"Has the prosecution any new witnesses?" asked Blood, turning to Zlotnikov.  
  
"The prosecution calls upon Severus Snape to give testimony."  
  
"I only wish that we were allowed to 'plead the fifth'." thought Hermione grimly, remembering the phrase from a muggle-law extension course she had taken two years before with a visiting professor.  
  
Something of the opposite was about to transpire. Not that it had always been that way ... Following the final downfall of Voldemort, the wizarding world had been in chaos and the Ministry had been desperate to round up the last of the Death Eaters and other vehement supports of the Dark Lord. And they had resorted to Veritaserum and other methods to do it, sinking nearly as low as their enemies.  
  
"Tell us your name for the record." said Zlotnikov as he leaned over the railing of the gallery and peered down at Severus.  
  
"Severus Snape."  
  
"Occupation."  
  
"Former professor of potions, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." he answered in a weary voice with no will behind it.  
  
"You have stated for the record that you did not murder the Aurors Ames and Tibbs nor the shopkeeper Angelos Weatherall. Were those statements true?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then did you or did you not take any lives during the time in which you served Voldemort?"  
  
"I did."  
  
There was a quiet murmured throughout the courtroom. Even Harry and Remus looked taken aback. Hermione could tell by the look on the prosecutor's face that he believed he had struck gold.  
  
"Who did you kill?"  
  
"Don't know." Severus answered, struggling weakly against the bonds.  
  
"A wizard?"  
  
"No."  
  
"A witch then?"  
  
"No."  
  
"A muggle?"  
  
"Yes, a muggle woman."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Tor... Torture." he said in a strangled voice.  
  
"For the record, you tortured a muggle woman to death?" questioned Zlotnikov with a gleam in his eye.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Were there others?" he asked after the courtroom had settled down again.  
  
"No, there were no others."  
  
"The prosecution rests." said Zlotnikov.  
  
"Your witness, Ms. Granger." said Blood.  
  
Hermione took a deep cleansing breath before she began to question Severus. He was trembling, no amount of potions able negate the turbulent emotions that coursed through him: guilt, shame, fear, regret.  
  
"Mister Snape," she said, choosing to address him formally, "how many lives did you save while you were employed at Hogwarts?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Severus had avoided that question, feigning that he had not kept track of such things and that he didn't know. He had never liked to consider himself in a heroic role. He had never considered himself worthy of praise or honor or even simple thanks.  
  
"Can you guess? Or better yet, tell me the names of the people you saved and I'll help you come up with a total."  
  
"Harry Potter."  
  
"Good. That's one ..."  
  
"Francis Kim." said Snape, naming a student who had wandered in the Dark Forest during Hermione's fifth year.  
  
"That's two."  
  
"Lee Jordan."  
  
"Three." said Hermione. His count had taken him as far as the final battle. She made a mental note to ask him about that one at a later time.  
  
"Harry Potter ... again."  
  
"That makes four ..." she nodded. "Well, three on a technicality." she thought to herself.  
  
"There aren't anymore." he said blankly.  
  
"So you saved four lives?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Were you ever a spy against Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Were you of any help to our side?"  
  
"Albus Dumbledore ... said that I was."  
  
"Were you ever tortured because of your role as a spy either because of Voldemort's suspicions about you or because of other circumstances involved in that role?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How many times?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
Hermione had never managed to get him to nail down a figure. And she had not pressed the point. It was not a comfortable subject for either of them. His eyes would grow darker, glassier, and her stomach would begin to feel unsettled. The conversations always came to nothing.  
  
"More or less than ten times?" she questioned.  
  
"More."  
  
"Twenty?"  
  
"More."  
  
The crowd began to murmur slightly. They had not considered how much the black-hared man in the restraining chair had risked and suffered for their side during the wars.  
  
"Thirty?"  
  
"Less."  
  
"A lot then." she said, mostly for the benefit of the jury,  
  
"Yes." he replied.  
  
"Do you feel like you have paid your debt to wizarding society for the crimes of your youth?" she asked him.  
  
The room grew pin-drop quiet as they waited for Severus's answer. Hermione bit her lip as he looked up at her with tears in his eyes, bright tears that slowly worked their way down his pale cheeks.  
  
"I don't know." he answered.  
  
"The defense rests." said Hermione.  
  
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A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the previos chapter or chapters, Christine, linnetjo, Corina (Mako) Borsuk (thanks for reviewing multiple chapters!), Michelle, travelgirl, cloudshape, Dinky, Jenni, and manda-bear.   
  
  
My legal experience is limited to this: a few ill-remembered episodes of 'Matlock' as a kid and my mother wanting me to be a lawyer (which wasn't/ isn't going to happen).  
  
  



	12. In which Snape finally washes his hair

Chapter Twelve  
  
In which Snape finally washes his hair  
  
  
The trial lasted long into the afternoon with only two brief recesses during which Hermione checked on Snape's condition and willed herself not to cry. Severus was still under the influence of Veritaserum, despite the fact the that questions were no longer being directed at him and looked terrible, almost zombie-like as he sat unmoving in the chair. The witnesses for the defense were grilled mercilessly by the prosecution, especially Remus Lupin, who was still held in abhorrence for being a werewolf. Only Harry Potter was fully able to stand up to Zlotnikov, a shrewd, calculating man with a keen, if not poisonous intellect.  
  
After the jury had filed out, choosing to deliberate in seclusion, a sure sign that they were divided, Blood turned to Hermione and her friends and said, "It will be midnight or later before they finish. I am leaving Mister Snape in your custody, if you still want him."  
  
"Yes, sir." she replied.  
  
Ron and Harry followed her to the courtroom floor as the galleries began to empty. Severus was seated in the chair as she had dreamed him, but living and not dead. She cautiously brushed his black locks from his face while the boys stood back and waited patiently.  
  
"Severus?" she whispered, waiting for a court wizard to come and unlock the magical restraints. "Say something."  
  
"Can I go home now?" he asked timorously, raising his head. The vacant look was just beginning to fade away.  
  
"Of course." she nodded, moving out of the way as the restraints fell away from his arms. "Can you walk? Or should we ..." she began to ask.  
  
"I can manage."  
  
His steps were ungainly as he walked with the trio from the courtroom. Hermione put an arm around his back to steady him. He could not speak, did not wish to speak, but he nodded to her gratefully.  
  
"We can walk with you to Diagon Alley - it's not that far away - if you don't want to try and apparate him there." suggested Harry.  
  
"Thanks." said Hermione, who was too drained to perform any great feat of magic.  
  
"I want to go back to my apartment." said Severus.  
  
"We're going to take you there." Hermione assured him.  
  
  
Harry and Ron left the two of them as soon as Severus was settled onto the soft couch in his parlor at the residential hotel where he had been living. Ron was going back to the Ministry to await news of the verdict while Harry was returning home to his wife and some much needed sleep. It had been a rough day for all of them, possibly the roughest since they had buried their dead after the final battle at Hogwarts.  
  
Hermione lingered near the door, wondering if she should stay or go. She heard Severus sit up on the couch and turned.  
  
"Don't go." he said to her.  
  
"I will never leave or forsake you." she replied quietly, walking over sitting down on the couch with him, pushing him gently back against the cushions. "You should rest. You've had quite a day."  
  
"So have you, from what I can remember of it." he commented, reaching up to touch her curly hair.  
  
"Severus ..."  
  
"Run a bath for me, would you, love?" he asked her.  
  
"Of course." she said, leaving the sofa and walking into his bathroom.  
  
Hermione filled the basin with warm, steaming water and returned for him. Severus cautiously began to leave the couch, not quite trusting his legs. She could see the weariness and struggle written upon his face. It was heart rending.  
  
"Hermione ..." he began to object as she began unbuttoning his heavy robes.  
  
"Let me help you."  
  
"Am I still your client?" he asked as she pulled his uncooperative arms from the sleeves of his formal robes.  
  
"Technically ... perhaps, but the trial is over. All that's left is the waiting." she told him, kneeling to remove his shoes and socks.  
  
"And then?"  
  
"The verdict." she said, wiping one eye with the back of her hand. "Stand up." she instructed, rising with him and put her arm around his waist.  
  
Hermione led him into the bathroom and helped him out of his other clothes. A pale blush crept into both their faces as she helped him into the water, which had remained perfectly heated thanks to a warming charm that had been cast upon the tub. Hermione pulled up a wooden stool and sat down next to him, watching the water ease his tense, aching muscles.  
  
"I never expected it to be like that." he told her, closing his eyes.  
  
"I should have prepared you more."  
  
"I am the potions' master. I should have ..."  
  
"Severus ... let's not talk about all of that just now." Hermione told him.  
  
"Hermione ..." he began to object as she pushed him forward in the water and began to scrub his back for him. "No one's ever ... not since I was four years old ..."  
  
She watched him draw his knees up in the water, clutching them close as his eyes filled with tears.  
  
"I won't let them take this, or take you, away from me. I swear it." he said as she leaned him back again to wash his hair. He was speaking of the dementors of Azkaban.  
  
Hermione only nodded mutely as she ran her fingers through his silken locks. She had longed to do this for him, even when she was still a student and called her feelings for him a mere infatuation and never dreamed of acting upon them. She couldn't say anything. She knew if she spoke, her words would only degenerate into sobs, and she didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to spoil everything. She watched his eyes close in contentment and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.  
  
When she left him to finish enjoying his well-deserved warm bath, she wiped her eyes surreptitiously and returned to him with a bathrobe of Slytherin colors. He smiled softly, fondly at her as she held up the garment and helped him into it. They returned to the couch where he reclined again and she took up her seat by his side.  
  
"Do you feel any better?" she asked him.  
  
"Much."  
  
"Do you want to go to sleep now? I'm certain you could benefit from a little shut eye." she told him.  
  
"I don't want to spend my last night of freedom sleeping. Pour us a drink and talk with me, Hermione."  
  
"It won't be ..." she started to say.  
  
"Shush." he told her.  
  
"All right." she agreed, walking over to a table in the corner adjacent the fireplace and filling two glasses with red wine.  
  
"Should I propose a toast?" Severus asked, taking one of the glasses from her hand and sitting up.  
  
"Please do." she said.  
  
"To friends and love long unnoticed, may the same mistake never be made again." he said, cracking half a smile.  
  
"To love." she whispered, clinking her glass against his.  
  
They settled back against the couch, shoulder to shoulder as they sipped the wine. A crackling fire appeared in the hearth before them, lending a bit of cheer to the otherwise dreary room.  
  
"How did you manage that?" she questioned.  
  
"A bit of wandless magic." Severus answered.  
  
"We should be hearing from Ron in a few hours, I imagine." she commented after a long moment of silence.  
  
"Yes, I wouldn't doubt it." agreed Severus, putting an around her. She leaned closer and laid her head upon his shoulder.  
  
"You should have found a more experienced lawyer." she told him.  
  
"No one would have fought for me like you did, Hermione. I would already be in Azkaban without you."  
  
"I bought you a week and a day."  
  
"A week and a night." he corrected, setting his wine glass aside and taking hers from her hands before kissing her gently on the lips.  
  
This time she wasn't afraid or daunted by thoughts of what was or was not inappropriate, and she kissed him back, not pulling away or hesitating. It was intoxicating, both bitter and sweet, wonderful and full of painful longing.  
  
"Bedroom?" she whispered as he pulled away for a moment to catch his breath.  
  
"Right." he agreed unquestioningly.  
  
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A/N: Thank you all for reviewing, Autumnmist, Christine, rhitmcshanm, linnetjo, anonymous reviewer, fizzysoda, EireVerde, ress, mym2000, Moldanubikum, Goddessnmb1, Michelle, and Jenni!  
  
Answering a question: the emotional effects of Veritaserum are mostly my interpretation. But then, in PoA the dose was in drops (I think). Who knows what a high dosage would do? And it is Snape ... repressed emotions are a possibility.  
  
Someone thought the last chapter (11) was a cliffhanger. I pride myself on ending chapters in logical places. *sighs* Sorry.  
  
Jenni, feel better soon!  
  
  
  
  



	13. In which the unexpected happens

Chapter Thirteen  
  
In which the unexpected happens  
  
  
Her knees were tucked beneath his as she listened to his soft, rhythmic breathing and savored the warmth. Severus had fallen asleep only moments before. She nestled closer to his back and kissed his neck softly. Perhaps his last night of freedom ... if worse came to worst. It was probably the first happy memory the dementors would strip from him. And he had so few. Almost none that he would share. This one she would keep for him and treasure above all memories as long as she lived.  
  
A loud voice from the parlor called her name and she slipped from bed, throwing on her clothes and robes at lightning speed. It was Ron with news. She recognized the voice instantly.  
  
Severus sat up as she dressed and collected his discarded robe from the floor.  
  
"It is time?" he asked in a low voice.  
  
"Ron wouldn't be trying to get in touch otherwise."  
  
They walked into the parlor together, but Severus paused at the table in the corner while Hermione went to speak with Ron, whose head was visible in the fireplace. He had had the good sense not to apparate.  
  
The young Weasley looked at her quizzically for a moment, blinked, shook his head, and said, "I don't even want to know, 'Mione."  
  
"News? Do you have any word concerning the verdict?" she asked impatiently.  
  
"Guilty, I'm sorry to say." said Ron, hanging his head. It was hardly a surprise. "But they aren't coming for him until sunrise. He could still run ..." he suggested wildly, looking up with a defiant spark in his eyes.  
  
"It's no use. He doesn't even have his wand."  
  
"But, Hermione! Even muggles run! Surely you could get him to a ... to a cab in muggle London ... and then ... to a train station or an airport. He could run, 'Mione."  
  
"No." said Severus from the corner, placidly stirring a drink. "I won't run. I won't make them chase me down like a rapid dog."  
  
"I can respect that, sir, but what about Hermione?" asked Ron with an apologetic look. "I know it's none of my business and you'd only be too right to tell me to butt out, but she's my friend ... and when they take you away ..."  
  
"I won't go to pieces or hex them, Ron. Someone has to prepare an appeal, after all." she told one of her oldest living friends.  
  
"Mister Weasley ... Ron, I am grateful for you assistance, your suggestions, and even your foolish sentiments," Severus began to say, some of his less than pleasant personality emerging as he spoke, "but, please, leave us. The time is short." said Severus, downing his drink in one quick swallow.  
  
"Of course." he agreed, his image leaving the hearth.  
  
"Come and sit with me, my love." said Severus, walking over to the couch.  
  
Hermione had never imagined that he would call her that, that anyone would ever call her their love. Her heart ached as she joined him, pulling him tenderly into her arms one last time.  
  
"I like this." he said, staring up at her with his dark eyes.  
  
"So do I." she said, running her fingers through his hair. He trembled. "Severus?"  
  
"It is nothing." he said, shuddering again and closing his eyes for a moment.  
  
"It's all right ... to be afraid. I would a mess, you know."  
  
"You wouldn't be, and ... and I'm not afraid ... anymore." he replied, breathing in sharply. His eyes clouded with pain.   
  
Something wasn't right.  
  
"Severus, tell me that you didn't ... you haven't." said Hermione, feeling alarm creep into the very center of her chest as she looked over at the stand in the corner whereupon a few small bottles sat, hardly noticeable next to the wine bottle and the glasses.   
  
He lifted her hand and kissed it, clutching it to his chest. She could feel his heart beating wildly beneath his cool skin.  
  
"You've poisoned yourself?" Hermione asked shrilly. He made as though to hush her, but she shrieked again, "I can't believe it! I can't! You can't have!"  
  
"I was brewing two potions, you know ..." he said sleepily, his voice becoming even more silky and deep. "Your sleeping draught ... and mine."  
  
"Severus ..." she sobbed brokenly, realizing that he had planned this, that he had prepared for this terrible moment, that he was willing to face death in agony rather than suffer inside Azkaban. That this was his poor solution and his answer to the injustice of the world.  
  
His face twisted in pain and anguish. His body convulsed involuntarily even as Hermione sought to hold him still.  
  
"But why like this? Why?" she screamed.  
  
"Someday soon ... you will understand." he said before a cry of intense torment escape his lips.  
  
Severus lay still after a moment longer of unbearable pain. His hand lost its grip upon hers, and she felt his heartbeat falter and fade until it beat no more. She stroked his hair and face and sobbed loudly, unable to restrain herself. He was gone. When she had promised never to forsake him, she had never thought that he might leave her, that he would die in her arms that very night in the hours just before dawn.  
  
"Why didn't I realize?" she asked herself, smoothing his robe compulsively, touching his face with reverence. The anger had come and gone, leaving only a profound sense of grief and emptiness in its wake.  
  
  
When the Ministry officials came only a few hours later, they were shocked to find that Severus Snape was no more. A young Ministry mediwizard pronounced him dead not longer after six in the morning. The cause of death was listed as suicide by poisoning, wormwood poisoning to be exact, which in and of itself was no surprise to anyone. How else should a potions' master die? Though it was admitting, a painful and terrifying death.  
  
Hermione was questioned at length by an Auror and one of Arturo Blood's people, but for the most part they were satisfied with her account of what had happened. There was nothing they could do or say to her. They could only look at her with cold, unpleasant expressions and leave her to weep bitter tears in peace.  
  
When the officials packed up and left her with the corpse of the man who had been so much to her, teacher, client, friend, and lover, each in proper turn, she wasted no time getting in touch with Harry, who looked somewhat bedraggled when he answered the fire.  
  
"Hermione?" he questioned, putting on his glasses and squinting at her.  
  
"He's dead." she said, still sniffling slightly. The worst of it, the unbearable anguish, had already begun to pass, though her hands were still shaking terribly.  
  
"Snape?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Harry started to ask a question, but stopped and simply said, "I'll get Ron ... and Remus too. We'll be right there."  
  
"Thanks." she managed.  
  
  
It wasn't much longer than ten minutes later when three people apparated into the parlor to find Hermione standing over Severus's body where it remained on the couch. She was staring at him, almost lovingly still, though there was anger behind the bright tears in her eyes, tears that she was trying desperately to hold back. Remus pulled her away while Harry and Ron just looked at the dead former professor.  
  
"I can't believe it ended like this." said Ron in amazement. Harry elbowed him hard in the ribs, glancing over his shoulder at Hermione before looking at Severus again.  
  
"The Ministry has already been here?" Remus questioned, holding Hermione close as she began to cry again.  
  
"Yes." she answered. "They suggested that I contact his family, but he hasn't got any. I think all of us may have been the nearest thing."  
  
"Then we will take care of what has to be done." said Remus staunchly.  
  
"I want him to have his wand back."  
  
Remus looked at Ron who nodded. The man was dead. The instrument would find no safer keeping than with him.  
  
"And his robes ... from the school." she added.  
  
"I'll see to it myself." Lupin promised.  
  
"Hermione ... I've never been sorrier in my life." said Harry, wrenching his eyes away from the corpse on the couch.  
  
"Me too." added Ron.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Now let's get you out of here. I think you've been through enough." said Remus, lifting Hermione into his arms. "We can sort through the rest of this later."  
  
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A/N: Thank you for reviewing, Christine, Quillusion, Dinky (twice!), cloudshape, mym2000, Michelle, and Jenni! And a special thanks to Quillusion for the advice and so forth.  
  
  
  
  
  



	14. In which the less than unexpected happen...

Chapter Fourteen  
  
In which the less than unexpected happens  
  
  
A week had passed since they, three former students of the deceased and a werewolf not quite comfortable with calling him a friend, laid Severus Snape to rest in his family's sepulcher. It was quite sunny that day and unseasonably warm. The weather was mocking her dead lover and her. Others had been invited, friends and colleagues, but they had shied away from attending the funeral, such that it was, of a convicted murderer. Not all of them believed in his guilt, but nevertheless they did not come. Hermione suspected that Harry and Ron had left their significant others' behind on purpose. And she didn't blame them. It seemed more fitting for them to do the deed alone.  
  
She had kissed him goodnight and good-bye one final time, expecting him to taste like death. It was more like fresh apricots. Remus had pulled her away gently when the tears had started to flow. Maybe that's why he had to be there. To pull her away when the time came and they sealed the crypt again, having laid to rest the last in a great line of powerful wizards. Had Hermione gone into that place alone, she might have sealed herself in as well.  
  
But that was a week ago to the day. And Hermione wasn't sealed in an ancient mausoleum with her dead lover, she was sitting in front of a fire, drinking hot chocolate and wondering what she would do with her life since leaving the legal profession. Remus and Ginny both claimed that they could use some help with their classes. Ron said that she could probably still enter Auror training if she still wanted to work for the Ministry. And Harry? He had generously offered to pay her way for season following the Quidditch team.  
  
That morning as she sat on her couch, listening to the fire crackle, she was still uncertain of where her future would be, or if she even had a future. She felt as though she had lost everything.  
  
"Hermione?" questioned a concerned voice, his head appearing in her fireplace. It was Harry, who checked on her almost everyday.  
  
"Good morning." she said, very nearly managing a smile. She always tried to smile for Harry's sake, but she still couldn't quite do it.  
  
"I don't know how exactly to tell you this, but I figured that I ought to be the one to do it."  
  
"That doesn't sound promising."  
  
"Yeah, well, you know how it goes, right?" said Harry, taking a deep breath. "Someone broke into the Snape family sepulcher last night and took one of the bodies."  
  
"Severus?" she asked, feeling a painful ache as she closed her eyes. Was nothing sacred to these people? She was sure somehow that the Ministry had had a hand in the desecration.  
  
"Yeah." answered Harry. "I'm sorry, Hermione. You want me to come over?"  
  
"No thanks, but I do appreciate the news. Would have been a rotten thing to hear on the street."  
  
"You know where to find me, if you want to talk."  
  
"Of course." she said before his image disappeared. "There's no way I'm letting this one go." Hermione said to herself, putting her cup on the coffee table and starting for the door.  
  
  
It was a cold and dreary morning, and a fog was just beginning to lift from the area around the sepulcher as Hermione Granger apparated in from London. The sound of someone, a caretaker perhaps, raking the last of the autumn leaves was the only sound carried by the damp air. Purposeful strides took her to the entrance of the tomb where the stone had been broken into two neat pieces. She peered into the darkness.  
  
"_Lumos_!" she cast, holding her wand aloft. Dust floated in the air around her, sparkling in the light of her wand and the soft gray of the morning that streamed in behind her.  
  
Her eyes drifted to a slab of stone, a magical slab with a thousand incantations against scavengers, tomb robbers, decay, and the elements, where she had left her beloved to sleep the eternal sleep. It was empty. So much for those charms, she thought, walking closer.  
  
"Can I help you, miss?" called a kindly voice from the entrance.  
  
Hermione was startled and turned to find an old, bearded gentleman with a rake standing there. His blue eyes twinkled behind a pair of half-rimmed spectacles.  
  
"My ... friend was here, but they took him." she stammered, wiping her bleary eyes with the back of her free hand.  
  
The old man shook his head and said, "The times we live in. Makes me want to get away from everything ... some days. But are you really sure your friend was taken, as you put it? Unexpected things have been happening in these parts for centuries."  
  
"I only know that he isn't here anymore." she replied, having the strangest feeling that she knew the caretaker. Something about his eyes and voice, the kindness in them both, were familiar, and yet she could not say for certain that she knew him. "Sir, have we met by any chance?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. There's always a chance, they say. Feel free to stay here as long as you like. Those Ministry of Magic people left quite some time ago." he chuckled, winking at her.  
  
"Thank you." she said as he turned to go.  
  
Hermione sat down on the slab and noticed a small, shiny object for the first time. Lifting it from the thin coat of dust, she recognized it as Severus's Slytherin pin. She had placed it upon his chest herself, just after she had folded his fingers around his wand in lasting tribute to the trust and faith she had had in him since she was just a teenage witch. Remus, strong enough and brave enough to do so, had helped Hermione dress him in his funeral clothes, dark colored and formal things that Severus had always preferred to wear, a sable black frock coat, and his Hogwarts robes. Harry had laid a folded Slytherin banner beneath his head as a pillow, but it was gone too. Only the tiny pin, a sleeping silver serpent in design, remained.  
  
"Where have you gone?" she whispered.  
  
Suddenly she felt two strong and gentle hands upon her shoulders as someone sat down behind her, his breath warm upon her neck, "I always told you that I could put a stopper in death, didn't I?"  
  
"Severus?" she questioned, her eyes filling with confused, but hopeful tears.  
  
"In the flesh." he chuckled, turning her to face him.  
  
Hermione threw her arms around him to prove that he wasn't a ghost or a figment of her grief stricken imagination. He was warm and real, dressed in the same clothes in which she had lovingly arrayed him. He kissed the top of her head and chuckled softly again.  
  
"You're not dead? And you're laughing!" Hermione said as she drew away, crying and punching him in the shoulder. "My God! Do you know what I went through? I mean, why, Severus? No, I know why. But how? And why didn't you tell me?" she babbled.  
  
"It was a very old potion recipe. Induces a death-like state for a number of days. Risky, but not too complicated. They could do it back in the days of Romeo and Juliet, you know. I think it worked rather nicely." he answered, looking a bit smug. "And I couldn't have told you. The Ministry would have been quite suspicious if you weren't sufficiently upset by your 'client's' death."  
  
"But, Severus, you can never show your face in England again! The Aurors would be on you in a second." she said, drying her eyes and accepting his answer, for the moment at least.  
  
"I have had some time to think. My mother's family has this wonderful little place in the Italian Alps. Not so much a castle as a hunting lodge. Secluded and beautiful ... really beautiful. Like you, Hermione. And the commute to Beauxbatons isn't too bad. I've heard ... from an old friend ... that they will need a replacement for their Arithmancy professor come spring time. She's getting married, you know, and doesn't want to teach anymore." said Severus with the most genuine smile she had ever seen. "Married? Now what does that remind me of? Ah, yes." he said, taking the Slytherin pin from her hand and his wand from his pocket. With a tap and a quiet word it turned into a rather lovely diamond ring, the stone popping from the snake's mouth as it changed. "Would you marry me?" he asked Hermione, taking her hand in his.  
  
"It's a bit sudden. I mean, we've really only known each other a few days ..."  
  
"Rubbish. I feel like I've known you my whole life, and yours."  
  
"Well, if that's the case, then I guess I will have to say 'yes'." answered Hermione, finally able to blink away the last of her tears. "Although since you are legally dead ..."  
  
"We'll work around that."  
  
Severus slipped the ring on to her finger and kissed her softly on the lips. They held that kiss for a long time, until the sound of someone raking leaves just outside the crypt made Hermione giggle and pull away.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"You can't possibly tell me that the old man out there isn't Professor Dumbledore."  
  
"Of all the times to be thinking of the headmaster! You were supposed to be kissing me."  
  
"Severus ..."  
  
"He wanted to take a holiday." shrugged Severus.  
  
"Severus!" she practically shouted. "You mean to say that he was here all the time?"  
  
"Ugh! Of course not. This is a my family crypt, not a health spa! I never really knew where he was exactly. I just knew that when the time was right, he would come back. Albus never lets anyone down. I was just as surprised to see him as anybody would have been when I walked out of here last evening. We made a little arrangement regarding the Ministry people who would come to investigate ... and you. He transfigured a bit and put them off the scent, so to speak, and alerted me to your arrival. Neat as neat." explained Severus, making light of the situation. "I imagine he would have broken me out of here if I hadn't had my wand, which is something I suppose I should thank Ron Weasley and company for." he added.  
  
"And Remus for your robes." she chuckled, plucking at his slightly dusty sleeve.  
  
Severus rose and looked rather distastefully at the cold, hard slab where they had been sitting and offered his arm to Hermione.  
  
"Well, off we go then. I am sure that you have some things to pack up before joining me in Italy. But don't be too long, all right, love?" he said as they walked from the tomb and into the morning light outside. The caretaker, it seemed, had vanished ... again.  
  
Hermione realized why Dumbledore had never shown up to save Severus at the inquiry and trial. The Ministry, as soon as their beloved and aged headmaster passed on, would have just gone after Severus again and again, if need be. Some grudges, right or wrong, only die when the object of loathing dies too. Dumbledore was truly wise, though his ways were seldom understood. And after knowing Severus for nearly twenty years, he knew the potions' master could take care of himself, especially with a little help from Miss Granger.  
  
"And I have some good-byes that must be said. I couldn't leave with telling Ron about my intention to take his bride's job. Or letting Remus, Neville, and Ginny know that I'll be teaching at a rival school. Not to mention Harry. He'll turn colors when he finds out I'll be supporting a different Quidditch team from now on." she laughed.  
  
"I would love to see the looks on their faces!"  
  
"I'll bring the Pensieve too." she said, squeezing his arm.  
  
"But we're only going to fill it with good memories from now on, hmm?" he said with a carefree smile.  
  
"Absolutely!"  
  
  
  
The End  
  
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Author's Notes to follow.  



End file.
